The Flower Called Azalea
by 2010Camaro2SS
Summary: Jake & Azalea grew up together and have been best friends for the longest time. One problem: she's in love with him. Once Bella comes into the picture and he phases, problems arise. but she's got a secret, too. Being a teenager sucks. Starts in New Moon.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys. =) I AM still writing my other Jacob/Taylor stories, but this is a new Jacob fic- I haven't been able to get the idea out of my head. I hope you enjoy it! R&R It starts in New Moon before Edward leaves and Bella is all depressed. Jacob Black and Azalea Call are best friends. Along with Quil Ateara and Embry Call, of course. =) I can't leave them out.**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

How It Used To Be

Azalea POV

"Jacob! Put me down!" I laughed. We were hanging out in his garage, working on his Rabbit when he suddenly attacked me. "This is _not_ nice, Mr. Black!" I scolded playfully, and he swung me around. Of course, me being a girl… I screamed.

He laughed along with me and continued his assault. He knew I'd always hated being tickled….

"Jake," a voice sighed from the entrance of the garage. "Dude, put my sister down."

Jake tickled me one last time and put me down. I huffed at him and he grinned. "Embry, you take the fun out of everything."

My brother laughed and then turned to me. "What'd you do this time?"

I scoffed. "Why must you always assume that _I_ did something? You do realize that your so-called 'best friend' is not as innocent as he seems, right?"

"Duh. That's part of why he's my bro! But, no. Seriously. Why'd he attack you?"

"He's jealous of my mechanical skills," I smiled smugly.

It was Jake's turn to scoff. "Oh, whatever. I just thought it was time for a break."

I turned to him and began talking directly to him. "Yeah, because while you were busy trying to patch up the hole in the oil tank that _you_ caused, I installed the engine and got the vehicle to actually turn on."

"You were only able to do that because I already had the engine in there."

"You're right. You did have it in there." He looked triumphant for a second until I spoke again. "Upside down."

He was about to retaliate, but realized that he couldn't win against me. So after his mouth opened, it closed just as quickly.

I reached up and ran my fingers through a little bit of his long hair and smiled a bit before looking into his eyes. "It's okay. We all know that my mechanical knowledge and skills far overpower yours. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. The whole reservation knows it."

He laughed and swatted my hand away. "Yeah, just like the whole reservation actually believes that you're Embry's biological sister."

"Hey, watch it. So our mom's not Quileute. Big deal. He just happened to get the awesome Native American genes. I happened to get the paler skin tone, green eyes, and brown hair. But you know that we are actually fraternal twins," I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Well of course _I_ know that. I grew up with you guys. But everybody else on the rez still thinks that you're some kind of alien…" he gave me a faux sympathetic look. Which in turn, caused me to smack his arm.

I smiled slightly. "Shut up. You're just jealous because you can't be an alien among the regulars here."

"Wow. According to you, I'm jealous of a lot aren't I?"

"Yep. And I'll bet you anything that when I get a boyfriend, you'll be jealous of me then, too," I smiled. Once I saw the shocked look on his face, I started to run, but I wasn't quick enough.

Jacob chased after me and tackled me to his front lawn. "What are you saying?" he asked as he tried to pin my squirming figure down.

I fought against his grip as I looked innocently up at him and said, "Who? Me? Why, I'm not saying anything."

"You saying that I'm gay?" He tried harder to pin me. Embry was watching from the sidelines laughing at us.

"I'm not saying anything like that! …Thinking it, but… not saying it…" I muttered and as soon as those words left my lips, he pinned me to the ground, not giving me any room for escape. He had my wrists pinned above my head, and he pinned down my legs with his.

I enjoyed this position very much.

Jake stared into my eyes for a moment before slowly leaning down toward me and my breath hitched. My eyes bore into his and I couldn't tear my gaze away. Though as he drew closer, our eyes fluttered shut.

He soon was within the distance that would've given me the perfect opportunity to kiss him-however clichéd-but he moved his face to the side of mine and whispered in my ear.

"Say 'Uncle'."

I gasped and struggled some more. Once I realized it was useless, I looked straight at him. "Never."

He smiled and said, "Alright, then… you asked for it."

Before I could get him to elaborate, he was tickling me again.

"Jake! Stop!" I squealed and tried to squirm my way out from under him. Since he was using his hands now, they weren't holding me down any longer and I was able to get a hold of him to flip us over so I was holding him down to the ground.

He tried, but he couldn't move. I grinned evilly at him. "Hah."

He smirked and said, "This isn't over yet." Right as he was about to make a counter attack, Embry cut in.

"Oh, yes it is. Come on, Z. I came to get you because mom has dinner waiting. She's already in a pissy mood, so let's not add to that by missing dinner."

I sighed and got off of Jacob. "Alright, let's go…." I looked down at Jake lying on the ground, smiled, and reached out to him to help him up. He took my hand obligingly and once he was up, we faced each other.

He grinned down at me. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

I returned the smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Jake walked back into his garage and I followed Embry as we started to walk down the street back to our house. We spent about half the walk in silence until he finally broke it.

"Z… why don't you just tell him that you're in love with him?" he sighed.

"What?" I looked at Embry, shocked. "Jacob is my best friend! I am not in lo-" the look on his face cut me off. "Is it that obvious?"

He nodded. "Everyone knows."

"…Everyone?" I panicked.

"Well… everyone except for Jacob, that is."

I relaxed a bit. I really didn't care if everyone else knew. If they knew and he didn't, then I wasn't worried one bit. The reservation was so small that news spread like wildfire and if he didn't know by now, then he never would. Problem solved.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys. =D So this is my new story as you've read the first chapter already. I hope you enjoyed last chapter, and I hope you'll enjoy this one as well. Please review when you're done. =) They make me very happy.**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

2. Excuse You?

Azalea POV

For the past sixteen years, since we were born, Jake and I hung out every day. Usually with Quil and Embry, but still. Of course we fought, but we would always make up a couple hours later. And during the school year, we would go to each others' houses after school to work on homework and help each other out with anything that needed to be done. We never got bored. I smiled, thinking about some of the memories we shared together. Some weren't the greatest, but it was of me and Jake, so that made it worth remembering.

"Z?" Embry waved a hand in front of my face as we were heading over to Jake's house. Embry, Quil, Jake, and I were all going to the beach today, and we were meeting at Jake's house.

I looked at my brother. "Yeah?"

"You okay, there?"

"Yeah. Of course. Why?"

"You looked like you were spacing out."

"Oh. Well… I'm fine."

"You sure…?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes!" I said, exasperated.

"Okay…" I could tell he still didn't believe me, but I let it go. I didn't want to let it bother me. We spent the rest of the walk in silence and by the time we got to Jake's, Quil was already there. He looked like he was trying to help Jake with the Rabbit, but he really didn't know what he was talking about.

"Jake, but what about this thing?" Quil asked, holding up a piece of metal that had absolutely no place in a car. I tried to get a better look, but I couldn't tell what it was.

Jake rolled out from under the Rabbit and glared at Quil. "No. Quil, that's a pen. That does not go in a car. Anywhere. I need to find this pin…" And with that, he rolled back under.

I walked up to Quil and took the pen. "Here, try this," I said as I handed him the small pin that he was looking for. Quil looked at me, smiled, and went to get Jake's attention again.

"Hey, Jake," He said and I hid behind him. Jake came out from underneath again looking extremely agitated. "What about this?"

Jake was about to tell him off, but then saw that he was holding the right piece of equipment and stood up to walk over to Quil. "Yeah… that's it. Where'd you find it?"

"Oh, it was right over there," I smiled as I revealed my presence and pointed to his tool box.

Jake looked at me, Quil, then back at me and sighed. "I should've known it was you, Z."

I grinned. "Yes. You really should have. And I must say, I'm quite hurt that you didn't realize that it was me." He laughed and enveloped me in a hug. "Ew! Jake! Gross! You're all greasy and sweaty and disgusting!"

He laughed again and pulled away. "Says the mechanic girl."

"But I'm not dressed as a mechanic right now, so technically, I'm just a girl," I said and started to walk back to Quil and Embry.

He swatted my butt as I was walking away from him and I turned to face him with my jaw hanging open. "Yeah right," he said and we all burst into laughter.

"Well go shower so we can go to the beach. You stink," I taunted and he laughed some more and went inside.

We arrived at the beach and it was not crowded at all. Probably because the water was freezing. But we weren't there to swim. We were going to play beach volleyball!

"Okay! Just to make things interesting, I think Jake and Azalea should be on opposite teams," Embry called out.

"What? Why?" Jake asked.

"Because whenever you guys are teamed up, you always win," Quil pointed out.

"Okay, fine," I said. "I'll be with Embry."

"But he's your brother!" Quil argued.

"So?" You just said I couldn't be with Jake. You never said anything about Em," I smiled smugly.

Quil grumbled and muttered a 'fine' before sulking over to Jake.

Jake laughed. "Come on, dude. It's not that bad being on a team with me."

"Yeah, I guess," Quil joked.

I waltzed up to the net and met up with Jake, who stood on the other side of the net. "First team to five then?" I asked him.

"Sounds good to me," Jake said and we walked back to our starting positions. Embry served first and Jake returned it before Quil could fumble with it. Embry tripped over his feet before he could hit the ball, so I jumped up and spiked it over the net. It landed right next to Jake's feet.

He scowled at me. "Oh, it's on, Call."

I returned his facial expression. "Bring it, Black."

Fifteen minutes later, we were tied four-four. Jake and I were basically the only ones playing anymore. Quil and Embry still remained on the court, but neither of them really did anything except for stand in the back to help if they were needed. Which, most of the time, they weren't.

I served and Jake returned it to me easily. I set it over the net and he tried to spike it, but I managed to bump it back to him. He hit it back to me and I bumped it again. This time, when he tried to hit it back, he had to dive for it because it was a little farther away, and he missed.

I won.

"Hah," I grinned down at him as he laid there in the sand. "I win."

"Lucky shot," he grumbled.

"Yeah right," I sang. Because I knew that Jake would've done the same thing, I gloated. I started prancing around in the sand, making up my own tune as I continuously said 'I won'. Soon enough, Embry joined me, and we changed the words to 'we won'.

I should've seen it coming.

Jake and Quil tackled us.

We all started wrestling in the sand-me with Jake, and Embry with Quil. We continued to beat on each other playfully until Embry and my mom came out to get us for dinner.

Jake and Quil decided to join us tonight and as we walked back to our house, Jake was taunting me.

"Cheater."

"What? How did I cheat?"

"You used your girlish charm."

That caught my interest. "Oh really?" I raised my eyebrows mockingly. "My feminine wiles work on you?"

He stuttered and blushed slightly. "Uh… no. Psh… no…"

I laughed and hugged myself to him. "It's okay. You know I'm just teasing you, right?"

Most of his blush had gone away, but there was still a bit of redness left in his face. "Well, duh. Of course I know that."

I grinned. "Good."

After dinner, Embry and I had to take care of the dishes and my mother was in a horrible mood. It was painfully obvious. So, due to my mother's bitterness, Quil and Jake decided to leave.

We walked our friends to the door and I gave both Quil and Jake a hug. I lingered a bit longer with Jake, though. I couldn't help it.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, smiling up at him.

"Most definitely," he grinned back at me and he left with my other best friend.

"Z!" Embry yelled right next to my ear, and I jumped. When did he get there?

"What?" I glared at him.

His face took on a playful and hopeful expression. "Did you tell him?"

"Tell him what exactly?" I asked, trying to play it off, but failing miserably.

He searched my eyes for a moment and then sighed heavily. "Why won't you just tell him already?"

I knew I wouldn't be able to escape this topic with him, so I decided to talk. "Because! It would change everything. If he doesn't feel the same way-which I'm _sure_ he doesn't-then it would ruin our friendship. We would always be awkward around each other, and it would _suck_."

"Whatever. Either you tell him, or I will," he threatened.

My eyes widened in horror. "Excuse you?"

He just smirked at me.

"You wouldn't."

He grinned evilly at me. "Oh, I would." I knew better than to doubt my brother. He thinks that just because he's two minutes older, he has complete authority over me, and he would do anything to prove it. Including going through with his threat of telling Jacob how I feel.

I stared blankly at him for a moment and then huffed. "Ugh. Fine! I'll tell him!"

"By Saturday."

"What?" I screeched. That was only two days away.

"You heard me," he smiled.

If looks could kill, he'd have been dead within a millisecond. "I hate you."

His grin widened. "I know. Have fun with Jacob tomorrow!" he called and went upstairs to his room.

I had to tell him. If I didn't, then my idiotic brother would, and that would just make things even worse. No. He had to hear it from me. But… but…! Ugh. How could everything go from being so perfect earlier in the day to so completely shitty by the night?

I made up my mind. I was going to tell him tomorrow when I help him with the Rabbit.

Oh, boy. Tomorrow would be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, my darling readers. ^_^ Thank you so much for reading, and thank you to the few people who reviewed-they made my day. This is the chapter where all the drama starts. Enjoy and review!**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

3. I've Always Wanted a Dog

Azalea POV

The next day, I woke up around noon, not really knowing why I slept so late. It's not like I stayed up late last night. I fell asleep around midnight or so. So when I woke up that late, I was thoroughly shocked. I jumped up from my bed, ran across the hall to the bathroom, and started to get ready. Suddenly I remembered something.

I had to tell him.

By tomorrow.

If I didn't, then Embry would.

Well, maybe he did feel the same way. Embry wouldn't push me to tell him if he didn't. And he _had_ been telling me about some girl who he'd been in love with for the past ten years…. I tried not to get my hopes up, but I think I failed miserably.

I slowly continued to get ready and dreaded when I finally was. It was about one o'clock in the afternoon, and I was supposed to hang out with Jake today. As I was walking out the front door, Embry's voice caught my attention.

"You going to Jake's?" he asked.

I replied without turning around. "Yup."

The smirk in his voice was audible. "You going to tell him?"

I braced myself. "Yup." And with that one worded answer, I walked out the door and away from my nosey, annoying brother.

On my way over to Jake's place, I had my earbuds in and I was listening to my iPod, hands tucked into the pocket of my hoodie. When I arrived, I didn't even notice the monster of a truck sitting in the driveway. I just went straight into the garage with one sole purpose on my mind.

I was not expecting what I saw.

Jake was working on a motorcycle. There was another one but by the girl there. A girl that wasn't me. I didn't even know he talked to any other girls besides me. We were together practically all the time.

She had long, somewhat curly, brown hair, extremely pale skin, and brown eyes. She looked dead-or… undead, I guess-and like she rarely ever smiled. Jake, however, was grinning and chatting away as he worked on the broken bike. She said something I didn't catch, and he laughed.

Somehow, I broke out of my trance and was able to speak. "Am I interrupting something?"

Jake and this new girl both looked up at me. The girl looked shocked, and Jake just grinned and stood up. He wiped his greasy hands on his already dirty jeans and walked over to me after brushing his long hair over his shoulders.

"Azalea. Hey," he smiled briefly at me and then turned to his friend. "This is Bella Swan. Bella, this is Azalea Call. Embry's sister."

"Hi," She waved meekly. "Wait, Embry has a sister?"

"Yup," I said and then turned to Jake. "Motorcycles? I thought you hated them."

He stuttered. "Well, uh… these aren't really motorcycles. They're dirt bikes."

"They're motor bikes."

He nodded.

"Whatever," I sighed. "So, Bella. You the chief's daughter?"

She nodded.

"Awesome," I muttered under my breath. There go my Independence Day plans of illegal fireworks. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

She forced a slight smile and Jake laughed before returning to work on the bike. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before she broke it.

"So, uh, are you and Jake, like, dating or something?"

"Oh, no," I laughed, though in my head I wanted to scream 'Yes! I love him, goddammit!' but I didn't. "No, he's my b-" I was about to say 'best friend', but I was cut off by Jake himself.

"Friend. We're friends."

I looked at him in astonishment. Who was this girl to him that he couldn't even call me his best friend in front of her? I knew I was probably blowing this out of proportion, but I really didn't care. It hurt.

I looked at him wordlessly until he returned my gaze.

"What?" he asked.

"Friend?" I answered with a question of my own.

"Yeah…? We're friends," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I shook my head, stood up, and started to walk out of the garage, fully intending on going home, but Jake stopped me right at the door.

"Hey. What's wrong?" he searched my eyes.

"Your friend? What, you can't even call me your _best _friend in front of her? Are you afraid of what she would think about you having a girl as a best friend?" I tried to keep my tone hushed, but I don't think it really worked too well….

"No, it's just-she's going through a hard time right now and-look. Z…" he sighed. "I just don't think that she's ready to hear that yet, y'know? She needs someone who can give her attention without someone else cutting in." Once he realized what he said, he was about to speak to take it back.

His words stung more than him referring to me as just his friend. He wanted to cut me out of his life to make room for this new girl. "So you do care what she thinks," I whispered.

"No! Well, yes, but not the way you're thinking," he tried, but he couldn't fix this.

"Do you like her?" I asked hoarsely.

"What?" He seemed confused.

"Do you like her?" I repeated.

"…How do you mean?" he spoke slowly.

"Dammit, Jacob! You know what I mean!" My heart was cracking, threatening to break.

"… Yeah. I do." There it went. All the pieces of my heart fell to the bottom of my stomach.

I shook my head and tried to hold in the tears. "Well then have fun," I said to him and walked out of the garage.

Jake POV

I watched as Azalea slowly walked out of the garage hunched over. She looked so small and vulnerable. I'd never seen her like that before. I turned back to Bella for a moment and saw confusion written all over her face.

"I'll be right back," I told her and ran after my best friend. I didn't understand why she was getting so pissed off that I called her my friend instead of my best friend. Best friends are still friends.

I finally caught up to her almost halfway between our houses and pulled her to a stop. "Z, wait."

She wouldn't look at me. "What do you want?" she growled. Whoa. I was taken aback. I'd seen her get angry before, but I'd never been on the receiving end of it. After seeing what happened to Ryan Tompkins last year, I never wanted to be.

"What's your problem? I told you about Bella before," I defended.

She stiffened before turning around and boring her hard gaze into my eyes. I almost flinched, but I couldn't let her see that she was seriously intimidating. "She's the girl that you've been in love with for the past ten years?" she asked. Too calmly.

I hesitated. "Yeah. Why?"

She glared at me before yanking her arm free. "Oh, no reason. I get it. You choose her over me. Whatever. Have fun with the 'love of your life'," she said and turned on her heel to go home.

This time I didn't go after her.

I just returned to the garage to work on the bikes some more and to hang out with Bella.

Azalea POV

I didn't know why I was so angry. But it just flared up all of a sudden today. No warning whatsoever. Was it really possible to be that jealous? Huh. I guess so. When I got home, I didn't hear Embry, and there was a note on the counter from my mom.

_Azalea,_

_I_ _went to the store, your brother's not feeling well. I should be back soon, but take care of him while I'm gone._

_ Love, Mom_

That explained it. I walked up the stairs to Embry's room and sure enough, there he was. Laying in bed, sweating like a pig. He watched me as I moved around in his room, and I was guessing that he couldn't sleep.

"You're back early," he noted hoarsely. "How'd it go?"

I shook my head and sat on the edge of his bed. "It didn't. Bella Swan was there. She's the girl that he's supposedly been in love with for the past ten years."

He looked shocked and then the shock turned to anger, and then to sympathy. "Oh, Z. I'm so sorry."

I nodded, a tear slipping out of the corner of my eye. "Me too."

We sat in silence for a moment. I was able to dry my eyes and stand up before I turned to talk to him. "Do you need anything?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Nah, I'll be fine. You go get some sleep. You look like you could use it."

Yeah. Sleep. That's what I needed.

My mom came back some time after eight o'clock, and went to bed since nobody was hungry. With Embry's room being right next to mine, I could hear everything.

In the middle of the night, I was jolted awake by a sickening ripping sound coming from my brother's room. I leaped out of bed and ran into his bedroom. Laying in the middle of the floor was a giant wolf.

Holy fuck.

The Quileute legends were true. And my brother was now a part of them.

**^_^ Let me know what you think! Reviews and constructive criticism are **_**always**_** welcome!**

**Until next time, lovies. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Yes, another update. ^_^ This story is just stuck in my head and I want to get it out. …Though I don't think you guys really mind too much, do you? Haha. Oh, yeah, and the guys' phasing is in a bit of a different order. Embry's still first, but Jake's not right after him. Well, anyway, enjoy! Oh, yeah. And review! **

**The Flower Called Azalea**

4. Another One?

Azalea POV

"Embry?" I cautiously approached the oversized dog and he watched me warily. "Em?" I tried again. He just curled farther into himself and tried to back up against his bedroom wall.

I sighed. This was just not working. My brother was the one that turned into a giant mutt and he's afraid of _me_? Or was he just afraid of hurting me? …That seemed plausible enough. He definitely looked like he could kill me with one… paw.

"Em?" I coaxed. "Bro?" I offered, and his large eyes seemed to soften more and more the longer he looked at me. He finally stood up and slowly walked toward me. Geez, he was huge! When he stood at his full height, the tips of his ears almost grazed the ceiling. He noticed my eyes widen and ducked his head so he was eye level with me.

Embry made a whimpering noise and nuzzled his face against me. I took that as a sign and raised my arm to pet him. He hummed in contentment as I petted his head. After a while of that, I finally gave in to my weakness. He knew all about what happened with Jacob, and somehow, even as a dog, he could comfort me. I wrapped my arms around his furry neck and nestled my face there and began to cry.

He just stood there to let me get it all out, like the good brother he was. With his high body temperature, fur, and comforting, my tears dried up within fifteen minutes. I pulled away and he stared at me, pain and sympathy clear in his eyes. He was wishing he could do something to help me, but really, nothing could be done. This was my own mess, and the easiest way to fix it would be to do what Jacob wanted me to do.

To stay away from him.

Of course that would be extremely difficult for me, but if he was always with Bella, then I'm sure I could manage to stay away.

Embry whimpered at me again, and though I couldn't understand what he said, I understood what he meant. So I went to my room, laid down in my bed, and tried my best to fall asleep. It surprisingly didn't take long. I finally succumbed after about five minutes. I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Embry POV

I was going to kill him. I was going to fucking kill him. I knew he loved my sister. He never actually said it out loud, but I could see it in the way he looked at her. I finally got her to build up the courage to tell him, and what does he do? He fucking brings home Bella fucking Swan.

It all made perfect sense now. She was in love-wait, no. _Obsessed_ with a leech, and when he left, she went looking for the next best thing. As far as I was concerned, she was a stupid, motherfucking siren. She found a happy-go-lucky guy with a great life, latched onto him and made him hurt his best friend. _My sister_.

Her obsession with that bloodsucker would cause her to leave Jacob as soon as any one of them came back and then that would leave _my_ best friend just as broken as my sister because, like her, he is too outgoing, and too trustworthy, and falls too easily. Bella would break Jake like Jake broke Azalea.

Gah! And here I was-in training to learn to control my temper. It wasn't working. The more I thought about Jake, the angrier I became. I phased in a flash, clothes ripping, and patches of denim flying everywhere on the forest floor.

_So much for your training, Sam_, I thought.

_Embry, just think of something happy,_ he tried.

_What is there to be happy about? My sister is heartbroken by her supposed best friend who's in love with a leech-lover. And on top of that, I now turn into an overgrown mutt!_ I retaliated. _I'm going to kill Jake._

Best friend or not, I was going to kill him.

Azalea POV

The next day, I surprisingly woke up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. I guess it was just one of those mornings. However, after I ate my breakfast, I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was going to happen. Soon. Though, I couldn't tell if it would be good or bad.

Embry came walking through the front door wearing only a pair of cut-off jean shorts. His new tattoo on his right shoulder stood out against his skin. I glanced at him and then returned my gaze to the television. I didn't even know what was on. It wasn't like I could actually pay attention.

"Training with Sam?" I asked conversationally.

He sighed. "Yup. Man. This wolf stuff is tiring," he said on his way to the kitchen. He opened up a few cupboards and then the fridge and then huffed. "Don't we have any food around here?"

I looked at him from my spot on the couch. "Mom went grocery shopping. She should be back in a couple hours."

"Good," he exhaled and plopped down right next to me on the couch. "What're we watching?"

I shrugged. "Beats me."

"…Is this the Spanish channel?" he asked, trying to hold in a chuckle.

I actually tuned in enough to listen to what the characters on the show were saying and then nodded. "Yup. Sounds like it."

"I didn't know you could speak Spanish."

"I can't."

"Then why are you watching this?"

"I don't know."

He stared at me.

"What?" I asked, getting fidgety.

He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut before pulling me into a strong-very warm-embrace. "I'm going to kill him. I swear, I'm going to kill him," he kept muttering.

"No! Just… leave him alone. That's what he wants. We'll just leave him to be with the 'love of his life'," I stated. "Let's go hang out with Quil," I suggested hopefully.

Embry sighed and then shrugged. "Okay."

"I'm sorry, but Quil's not feeling very well right now, Azalea. I'll have him call you when he's better," Old Quil tried telling me. Yeah, right. It was obvious in his eyes that he was lying and that he felt bad about it.

"Embry?" I called, and he stepped out from the side of the house to stand in front of Old Quil with me. Once Old Quil caught sight of my brother-shirtless with his new muscles, tattoo, and cropped hair-he sighed.

"Alright, go ahead," he said, resigned.

"Thank you," Embry and I said together and then walked into the house straight into Quil's room.

He was in the same condition that Embry was after he phased back. Sweating, laying on his bed with and ice pack on his forehead. And he was completely awake. He watched us as we walked into his room and as we stopped right next to his bed.

"You, too?" he rasped to Embry and Embry nodded.

Quil winced as he tried to move on his bed to get to a position where he could see us better. "Agh. Man, does the pain ever go away?"

Embry sighed and kneeled next to the bed. "Yeah. It's going to be a little while, but it will definitely go away."

"Good," Quil smiled and then winced again as he tried to move again. He finally looked at me and dread filled his eyes. "Don't tell me you phased, too."

"No," I said. "I just saw Embry as a wolf the first time _he_ phased. It was weird. I heard a ripping sound coming from his room and I ran over there. When I got there, there was a giant wolf laying on the floor."

"So you're one of the lucky ones. You know, but you're not one of us," he told me.

"…Yet," I said, my true fear started coming through. "With my brother and now you phasing, I'm scared that I might, too."

"Relax, Z," Embry came in. "I was worried about it, too, so I asked Sam and he said that girls don't phase. It's always only been guys."

I let out a breath of air I didn't even realize I'd been holding. "Okay, good. Thanks, Em," I smiled and hugged my brother. "You're always looking out for me."

He grinned. "Well, you are my baby sister. I can't let anything happen to you."

I smacked his bare chest. "You're older by _two minutes_! I hardly think that gives you a right to call me your_ baby_ sister!"

He shrugged. "I'm still older than you, so that gives me the right."

_Whatever_, I thought. There was no winning this argument with Embry.

"Come on, man," Embry said to Quil. "We get to go train, now, and you get to meet the rest of the pack!"

"Ugh," Quil groaned. "Fine." And with that, he dragged himself out of bed to follow Embry.

Quil looked at me. "Z, you look sad. What's wrong?"

Embry didn't give me a chance to answer. "Jake's a fucking prick, that's what."

"What?" Quil asked, confused.

"He broke her heart. You know that girl he's been talking about? The one he's been in love with for the past ten years?"

"Yeah…" Quil said.

"And how we were always _so_ sure it was Azalea?"

"Yeah…"

Embry shook his head. "Bella Swan."

"What?" Quil roared.

"She went over to his house yesterday. She was going to tell him how she felt, _finally_, and he had Bella over, and he told her that she was the girl he was talking about." Embry started to shake. Gee, thanks so much, Em, for just blabbing about my personal problems.

Quil began to quake in anger as well and growled, "I'm going to kill him."

"No. We'll _both_ kill him," Embry snarled.

Em then turned to me, trying to control his anger. "Z, why don't you go home? I'll be there as soon as I can."

I nodded solemnly. "Alright. See you when you're done training. Again," I muttered and headed back home.

My mom was gone, of course, so I decided to make some popcorn and put in a good action movie. I was feeling in the mood for _Iron Man_, so I popped that in and lost myself in the world of James Stark.

A loud knocking on the door woke me up. When I had fallen asleep, I didn't know, but it was sometime during the movie, seeing as the end credits were rolling now.

I picked myself up from the couch and headed over to the front door where the knocking was not letting up. As soon as I opened the door, I slammed it shut again.

"Z, come on! Please?" Jake begged.

I opened the door and stood in the way so he couldn't get past me. "What do you want?"

"I thought we could hang out today," he tried, a somewhat hopeful look appearing on his face. Something in his eyes told me that he was put up to asking me.

"Why? Aren't you hanging out with Bella?" I asked coldly.

"Well… yeah. But she asked me to ask you if you wanted to hang out with us, too." He seemed to replay what he said in his mind and was about to interject, but I didn't give him the chance.

"_She asked_ you to ask me? She had to _ask _you to ask me? God! Jake! What ha-you know what? Forget it. No. I don't want to 'hang out' with you and _Bella_," I sneered her name. "It's obvious you don't want me to, anyway, so just go. Have fun with her. 'Cause I won't be here the next time you come around because she _asked_ or _told_ you to."

"Why are you so mad at me?" he asked.

"Why am I mad? I'm mad because the Jake I knew would come over and wake me up at six in the fucking morning just to see if I would slap him. Then he would pull me out of bed, force me to eat, and drag me to his garage to work on the Rabbit, just to spend some time with me. It's been _two_ _fucking days_ and you're already so completely and totally different. And I want nothing to do with this Jake." I was about to close the door again, but his hand stopped it.

"Well it's not like you'll never see me around here. Embry's still my bro," he smirked.

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, really? Is he? When was the last time you hung out with him, huh? He's mad at you, too. And so is Quil. So all you have now is Bella. Though I doubt you really mind that.." I muttered.

He looked at me. "You're lying. There is no way Embry and Quil are mad at me."

"See for yourself. They're at the beach."

"Fine, I will," he said and left.

This was ridiculous. He really had to be _asked_ to see if I wanted to hang out? This was not the Jake I knew. Not the one I loved. Bella changed him, whether he knew it or not. And he was always one person that I could count on to be a rock in my life. Always there. Never changing.

I guess not.

I went outside to my backyard and as soon as I set foot on the ground, I didn't feel like myself. I looked around and then down.

No. This could not be happening to me. Not me.

Jake POV

Azalea couldn't have been more wrong. I hadn't changed. Just because I had other friends than her, she got jealous. It's not like we were a couple or anything. We were just best friends. Nothing more. Though, now, it was probably less.

I understood that I let some things slip that I probably shouldn't have said, but I was still the same person. I was just a person who was able to spend more time with Bella than I used to be able to. And I loved that. I could see that I made her start to feel better, just in the two days we'd actually been hanging out. And I knew that, in time, she would finally see that I'd be a great choice for her. I would never hurt her.

I'd always said the same thing about Azalea. And yet… I had hurt her. _No! Stop thinking about that! She's fine! She's angry, but she's fine. You're better off without her_, I tried to tell myself on my way back home. _How can I be better off without her when we've been best friends since birth?_

I had to get home to send Bella home so I could talk to Embry and Quil without leaving her at my house all alone.

I got back to the garage and Bella looked up at me expectantly.

"She didn't come?" she asked.

"No. She's mad at me for some reason," I replied. "But she'll get over it. She always does."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Look, I'm really sorry about this, but I need to talk to Quil and Embry, so it would probably be a good idea for you to go home…" I said apologetically.

Her eyes widened. "Why? I could just stay here while you talk to them." She seemed to really want to stay.

"You could, but I don't know how long it'll take. I think this is a pretty serious talk that we need to have…. I mean, you can stay if you really want to, but you'd most likely get bored."

"I'd be more bored at my own house, and at least here, I'll know you're coming back," she said.

"Bells," I sighed. "I will always come back to you. You don't have to worry about that with me." I finished speaking and enveloped her in a tight hug. "I'll always be here."

She hugged me back and after a few more seconds, I pulled away, not really wanting to. "So are you going to stay here, then?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I feel better when I'm here."

"Okay," I said. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

**Please let me know what you think! Reviews are always welcome! ^_^ Until next time! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so much to my darling reviewers. ^_^ You guys make my day. Onward to the next chapter!**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

5. You're Crazy

Jake POV

I walked down to the beach conflicted. I was concerned about Bella. I was happy that she wanted to stay with me. I was angry at Azalea for hating Bella. I was angry at Azalea for trying to tell me that Quil and Embry were angry at me, too. I was worried that they actually were.

When I finally neared the beach, I saw Quil and Embry hanging around Sam, Jared, and Paul. That made my blood boil. We'd always hated those guys; what were they doing with them now?

Sam caught sight of me first and pointed me out to Quil and Embry who then turned around. Once the recognized that it was me, their eyes flashed and they glared holes into my skull. They looked about ready to castrate me, burn my dick and make me watch, and then force me to drink gasoline and eat a burning match. Wow. This coming from my best friends. I guess they really were mad at me.

I wasn't so sure I wanted to talk to them anymore…. They'd already seen me, though. I couldn't turn back now. So I held my head up high and sauntered toward them.

They met me halfway and Embry pushed me back roughly.

"What the fuck do you want, Black?" he spat.

"Whoa, Embry. A little touchy are we?" I asked sarcastically and Quil then punched my arm. Hard.

"Ow! Dude! What the hell was that for?" I looked at Quil accusingly.

Then Embry decided that he wanted to punch me, too. He hit my other arm. Harder than Quil.

"Fuck!" I yelled. "Are you guys done? Why are you hitting me?"

"That was for hurting my sister, you fucktard," Embry growled.

Quil hit me again. "And that was for hurting my best friend who's like a sister," he snarled.

I took a step back, but they only advanced on me. "What the hell is your guys' problem? She'll get over it! Every time she's mad at me, she gets over it. Fast."

Embry moved so he was standing right in front of me. Dang, when did he get like six inches taller than me? "You don't get it do you?"

"Get what?" I asked. I was seriously confused now.

"We _all_ know that you like her. No, wait-that you're in love with her."

"What?" I asked, confusion and disbelief forming my expression. "What are you talking about?"

He chuckled once in disbelief and turned to Quil. "He doesn't even realize how he feels about her." He then turned to me. "I bet it's just killing you inside that she doesn't want to see you or be around you, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically. "We all know that you're in love with her. It's so obvious every time you look at her."

"Well yeah, it hurts that she doesn't want to be around me. I mean, she's my best friend for crying out loud! And yes, I love her. She's like my sister!" I tried to reason with them. This whole thing about me being in love with my best friend was ridiculous. I mean, I loved her, but not like that.

… Did I?

No. It just wasn't possible. I was in love with Bella. Azalea was just my best friend. Nothing more. And she never would be.

"Oh my god!" Quil exclaimed. "How is it possible for someone to be this _dense_? Dude! You're in love with her!"

"You guys are crazy," I told them. "I'm in love with Isabella Swan, not Azalea Call, my best friend."

They began to quake with anger, and Sam rushed over to us to get them to calm down.

I ended up returning home with multiple bruises in various places and a black eye. Nothing too bad. After seeing the look in their eyes when they first saw me, I was expecting something much worse. But damn! They'd gotten strong!

Bella saw me and immediately jumped up and started fretting over my battle scars.

"Oh my god! Jake! What happened to you? Did Quil and Embry do this to you?"

I nodded and winced as her hand ran over a tender spot on my arm. Where Quil had punched me twice.

She pulled back immediately. "Sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay. I'll be fine. I'm tough," I chuckled.

She gave me a small smile and said, "Yes, you are." She wrapped her arms around my waist lightly, afraid of further hurting me, but I pulled her to me tightly.

I sighed. This was where I wanted to be. If this was what I got after getting beaten up, I should anger Quil and Embry more often.

Azalea POV

A few weeks later, when Embry and Quil walked in, I was once again watching television. Though this time, I was actually paying attention. The local news was on, and there was some story about giant bears killing hikers in the woods around here.

Bullshit.

I knew what it was, and that wasn't it. First of all, they were referring to wolves, not bears, and second of all, the wolves weren't killing anyone. Vampires were. After Embry returned from his first training session, he explained the whole vampire-werewolf thing to me. And the fact that all this stuff was in the legends helped me to know the truth.

"What's goin' on, li'l sis?" Embry asked as he landed on the couch to my right and Quil to my left.

"Reporters think you guys are killing hikers in the local forests," I told them. "The police are going hunting for giant bears."

They started laughing. "Bears? They think we're bears?" Quil asked.

I nodded. "Yup. And they intend on killing you to mount your heads on the wall, and use your fur as a rug," I started making stuff up.

Embry pushed me lightly and started laughing. "Yeah, right." He suddenly turned serious. "They should really stay out of the forests unless they want to find out what's _really_ killing all those people, in which case, they'll never get to tell the story."

"Have you guys found her yet?" I asked, referring to the redheaded leech roaming our land and the Forks vegetation.

"We keep finding her, but she keeps getting away every time we get close," Quil answered.

I shook my head in disappointment. "You guys really need to step up your game."

"Yeah, we know. It's just frustrating. None of us are fast enough to catch her," Embry glared at nothing.

I was about to speak, but stopped myself, for fear of revealing something that I _really_ didn't want them to know. So instead, I switched to comforting, patronizing sister. "You'll get her," I patted Embry on the shoulder and stood up. "You guys want anything to eat?" I asked.

That cheered them up and they were immediately shouting out various food items that they wanted to eat. I laughed and started preparing a very large dinner.

"Sam, I don't want you telling _anybody_! I'm serious! I don't even want my brother to know! I'll patrol and do rounds, I just don't want anyone else with me. I mean, unless it's you, since you already know," I pleaded.

"Azalea, why don't you want them to know?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Because! Quil's like my brother, and Embry _is_ my brother. If they found out about this, they'd go so crazy trying to protect _me_, they'd forget about the task at hand," I explained.

"You know they're going to find out sooner or later," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'd rather it be later than sooner. And plus, you can control your thoughts with the pack. If I told either of them, they wouldn't be able to control their thoughts and then the entire pack would know. Then _everybody_ would go crazy trying to protect me."

"You're going to need someone with you when you patrol."

"I know! That's why I think it should be _you_. I mean, I'm faster than any of the other wolves, right?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"And you're the alpha. So, I could catch her, and have you come in and help me kill her."

He was shaking his head before I finished. "It's not that simple, Z."

"Why not?" I asked. "It could be that simple!"

"You're also the smallest." I saw that he wasn't going to budge on that.

"Whatever, just _please_. Don't tell anybody."

He sighed. "Alright. I will do my best to keep you out of my thoughts while I'm in wolf form with any of the other guys."

"Thank you," I sighed and hugged him gratefully. "Oh, and I'm not getting the tattoo," I laughed.

"Z, you too?" I heard an incredulous voice behind me and turned to face Jake.

Jake POV

"Z, you too?" I asked incredulously as I saw her in the arms of Sam Uley. Gah! What was it with this guy stealing all my friends?

_You drove them away, you idiot_. My thoughts were seriously getting on my nerves. …Even though it was true.

She turned around with hard eyes. She must've seen the hurt and confusion in my gaze because her expression softened for just a tiny moment before hardening again.

"What do you want?" She asked harshly.

"What, now you're all buddy-buddy with Sam, too?" I retorted rudely.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

I was about to say something, but it was as if my harsh words could not lash out at her. My face fell and my voice grew quiet. "I just miss you, that's all. We never hang out anymore."

She grunted at my statement. "You should've thought about that before you chose Bella over us."

"So you're going to hold it against me for having other friends?" I asked angrily.

Sam chose then to interject. "Jacob, they can't be around you. It's not safe."

"Not safe for who? Me or them? And don't tell them what they can and can't do. You're not the boss of them, _Sam Uley_," I sneered his name. "You're not even a fucking elder."

"Jake, leave him alone. You don't know anything about him. Or us anymore, for that matter," Azalea said and her last sentence stung worse than any physical blow could've.

"Fine," I said. "But don't come crying to me when you get bored with your new _friends_," I told her as I began to walk away.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. We were supposed to be best friends. Always there for each other. Granted, I'd been lacking on my end of that rule lately, but was that really enough to drive away sixteen years of such a strong friendship?

I guess so.

I guess we weren't as strong as I once thought.

I walked back home and into my garage to be met with one of my favorite sights. Bella was waiting for me by our newly finished bikes. We were going to ride them today.

"Jake," she smiled, and my day became ten times better.

Azalea POV

After Jake walked away, I felt like I really needed to just let loose and run. I normally only did this late at night when nobody else was in wolf form, but I needed this. I turned to Sam.

"Can you check to see if anyone else is phased right now? I need to run."

He nodded and ran into the tree cover to phase. I heard a growl come from his direction, so I walked toward him. When I reached the tree line, he was just phased back, buttoning his shorts.

"It's all clear. Just come over to my place when you're done so I know that it'll be alright to phase. If anything happens while you're out there, howl. Understood?" he asked.

I nodded my head. "Extremely. Thank you so much, Sam."

He hugged me. "You're welcome, Z. You're like a sister to me, as well. And I don't want anything happening to you. So just be careful."

I nodded again and walked a bit deeper into the woods. I pulled off my sports bra and shorts and tied them to my ankle and then phased. It was still such a foreign feeling. It was weird at first, because it didn't even hurt me like it'd hurt the rest of the pack.

I ran.

I pushed myself as fast as I could go and I charged through the forest, reveling in the feel of the wind on my face, and the leaves brushing my fur as I blurred past them.

When I heard voices, I stopped and walked slowly toward them. Peering out through the trees, but trying to stay hidden, I saw Jake and Bella. Bella looked as if she had fallen off her bike and rammed into the rock that was right next to her.

"You're apologizing for bleeding?" Jake asked her, looking confused. I was trying to tear myself away from this, I really didn't need to hurt myself any more. After that confrontation with him earlier today, I felt like my heart had been ripped out again, but this time, it was like I did it to myself.

"Yeah, I guess I am," she replied quietly. I couldn't look away. It was one of those things where you couldn't watch, but you, honest to god, could not look away. Like you wanted to see what would happen.

"Well it's no big deal, Bella. It's just blood." And with that, he stood up and peeled his shirt off, crumpled it up and held it to her forehead.

He was definitely going to phase soon, unfortunately. His body was sculpted more than any of the other wolves. His biceps were bulging and he had an eight-pack.

"You know, you're sort of beautiful," Bella mumbled.

He looked like he was about to laugh, but thought better of it. "How hard did you hit your head?"

I couldn't tear my eyes away from his torso. Though I didn't really want to, I knew I had to. But my body had other plans. I slowly took a step forward against my will and a twig snapped under my paw.

Jake's head snapped up and before he could get a good look at me, I was gone. I ran back to the beach as quickly as I could. When the trees began to thin out, I phased back, pulled on my shorts and sports bra, and ran to Sam's house.

Jake POV

I held my balled up shirt to Bella's forehead to try and stop the bleeding and heard a twig snap in the woods behind her. I looked up and saw a blur of what looked like white and brown fur. Weird. I didn't understand it, and I was pretty positive I didn't want to, so I returned my attention to Bella and helped her up.

"I'm going to go again," she said and started heading for the bike.

"No," I stopped her. "No more bike. I think one head injury is enough for today. Let's get you home."

"I feel fine," she argued.

"That may be, but you don't look fine. Come on," I said and pulled her with me to the truck.

Azalea POV

This was bad. I couldn't shake the feeling that he saw me. When I walked into Sam's house, the rest of the pack was there. They all looked up at me and greeted me happily.

"Hey, guys," I smiled.

Sam nodded at me.

"Okay, guys. Break's over, time to get back to patrol."

**Let me know what you guys think! ^_^ Reviews are always welcome! **


	6. Chapter 6

**=D I love writing this story. Though, it helps that I have all you awesome, loyal reviewers. ^_^**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

6. This Can't Be Happening

Azalea POV

Before Sam could follow the rest of the pack outside, I pulled him aside.

"Sam…" I began, trying to remain strong from what I had seen earlier.

"Azalea, what is it?" he saw through my façade and was genuinely concerned.

"Why does it hurt?" I asked, looking up at him with pitiful eyes.

"What are you talking about? Are you physically hurt? Or… is it emotional?" he asked.

"It feels like my heart is ripping out of my chest, burning right in front of my eyes, and falling into a shredder," I confided.

His eyes widened slightly. "Azalea… did you imprint on Jake?"

"What? No! …I couldn't have…" I trailed off.

"I think you probably did. Tell me. What are you thinking about?"

"Jake," I answered without hesitation.

"Is he all you can think about?"

"Yeah…"

"Then why'd you push him away earlier?" he asked confusedly.

"Because! I'm still mad at him! He's in love with Bella and he chose her over his best friends! I can't forgive him after that! At least not easily…" I trailed off, trying to hold in tears. "I don't want to see him."

"Okay… but you know he's going to phase soon, right?"

"Yes, I know. And I'll stay away then, too. Unless you absolutely need me. I'll be around, but not around him."

"Okay. I understand. I don't like it, but I understand."

"Thanks, Sam," I hugged him and he nodded then left to meet up with the rest of the pack for patrol.

A week later, Embry met me at the beach while I was skipping stones. I often came here to think. All of this wolf stuff… it was a lot to take in. And I was getting used to it.

"What's up?" I asked my brother.

"So I guess Jake's going to see a movie with Bella," he blurted.

I froze in my movements. "What?"

"Yeah, I guess they're going to see _Face Punch_ or something."

"Is it like a… date?" I hesitantly asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I know that he wants it to be. Jackass," he muttered.

I couldn't take this. My imprint was dating someone else. If he wasn't, then he wanted to be. My heart clenched.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the pain. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked in a broken whisper.

He shrugged again. "I thought you might want to know what he was up to."

"I don't care what he does. He can do whatever the fuck he wants. With whoever the fuck he wants."

"Z… I think maybe you should talk to him…" he said cautiously.

"No! Hell. No. I will not talk to him for anything. Embry! Wake up! He chose _her_ over _us_! Us! His best friends since birth!" I told him.

"I know, but…"

"No. I'm not budging on this, Em. If he wants to talk to me after everything he's put me through, he's going to have to work for it."

Embry sighed and left me alone to think.

But I couldn't. My mind was too clouded by various thoughts of Jake. So instead of staying on the beach, I ran into the forest and phased, taking the risk of other wolves being present. Luckily, none were.

Two months had passed since Embry came to me at the beach and told me about Jake's 'date' with Bella Swan. I hadn't phased since then. I didn't feel that I could. Jake had officially been a part of the pack for two months and Sam always had him running patrol. I didn't want to see inside his head. I especially didn't want him seeing inside my head. I didn't want him to know about the imprint thing.

But during those two months, a lot had happened. Harry Clearwater had a heart attack and passed away, causing great distress around the rez. The redheaded leech crossed our borders more frequently; she was apparently after Bella. What was so great about her? It seemed like everybody was after Bella. Anyway…. Jake was taking her home one night and caught the scent of some bloodsucker, and she took off after it thinking it was one of her precious Cullens. It was. It was the tiny one… Alice, I think her name was. Well Alice thought that Bella had tried to kill herself by cliff-diving (a very fun activity, if I do say so myself) and then the one that Bella was in love with wanted to kill himself for some reason. Whoever would think that she was worth dying for would not get along with me. But I was biased.

Bella rushed off to Italy to save the leech that left her broken in the woods, leaving Jake broken and angry in La Push when they came back and she chose the bloodsucker. He would never go out, he wouldn't even go to his garage anymore. The only time he ever left that godforsaken house of his was to patrol. And even then, it was only when Sam ordered him to.

Sam was still the only one who knew about my…wolfiness. Even after three months of phasing for the first time; I was amazed that I was able to keep it hidden for so long. Though I had a feeling it wouldn't last much longer. I always hung out with the pack, and when they questioned Sam about it, he just told them that since I knew about them, it wasn't a problem. So they all basically became my older brothers. However, I would only hang out with them when Jake wasn't around. The pack didn't mind it. Nobody wanted to deal with that drama. Quil and Embry had forgiven Jake, which irked me.

They were trying to get me to talk to him again, but I still wouldn't budge. My willpower was wavering, but I was staying strong. Somewhat. I couldn't help what my subconscious thought of while I was asleep, so every time I dreamt, he starred. I will admit… ever since he phased, he'd gotten pretty damn sexy. He looked so much better with short hair and without a shirt. And thus the cause of my… happier dreams and many… _many_ cold showers.

One day, I was going to go over to Jake's just because I missed Billy so much. …And Embry was forcing me because Jake had been so depressed lately, but I ended up going to Emily and Sam's instead. Sam had obviously told Emily about my situation; we knew she wouldn't tell anybody. So every time I went over there, she fixed up extra food and hid it from the guys, just for me. She was great. She was the older sister that I'd never had and always wanted.

My long hair that reached the small of my back was getting to be a hassle, so I cut it to shoulder-length. When I saw it, I cried. It's not that it looked bad, no, it looked very good. I'd just always had long hair ever since I was little. I probably should've gone shorter, but I absolutely refused to go any shorter than shoulder-length. It just didn't look good on me.

"How ya holding up?" Emily asked me during one of my visits.

"Carefully," I answered with a small smile in her direction.

"Not easy staying away from your soul mate, is it?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"Absolutely not," I replied. "Especially when he was my best friend growing up."

"Yeah…" she seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. "Sweetie, why don't you just go see him? As soon as he looks into your eyes, he'll imprint on you and you'll never have to worry about Bella ruining your relationship with him again."

"I thought you liked Bella," I chuckled.

"I do, but not when she's hurting my sister," she said.

I smiled at her. "Thanks, Em."

"You're welcome. So why don't you?"

"Because I'm still mad at him."

"Well that's a stupid reason." She rolled her eyes at my logic.

"I know," I sighed. "There's just so much more to it that I can't explain. And it's driving me crazy. But I just can't. I'm not strong enough."

"Hun, you are one of the _only_ two female wolves in the pack. You're definitely strong enough," she reassured me.

I chuckled. "Thanks, but… I'm not ready. I've been trying for months to build up the courage to go see him, but it's just not working. I'll deal with him eventually."

"Well get ready. The guys are on their way and so is Leah. It's almost lunch time."

I grinned at her and followed her into the kitchen to help her put together a lunch fit for fifty, though we were only feeding about eight. Damn those wolves and their appetites.

Emily shooed me out of the kitchen when the guys started piling in, so I sat at the table and Paul parked himself to my immediate right and threw his arm around my shoulder as the rest of the pack convened around the table.

"So, Z. Have I worn you down yet? You gonna go out with me?" he joked.

I smiled saucily at him and leaned a bit closer, as if I was going to kiss him. "In your dreams," I breathed and the pack burst into laughter.

Well… except for Leah. She was the other female wolf and she was bitter toward every pack member except me. We'd actually become pretty close. Not as close as Emily and I, and I think she held something against me for that, but we were still close.

Emily set the food on the table and everyone began to pig out. I managed to save a bit of food for myself, but not nearly enough to fill me up. Just enough to tide me over for a few hours. Everyone was laughing and joking around until we heard the loud rumbling of an ancient truck. The room fell silent, and then most of the pack's faces lit up into broad grins.

Once they got to know her a little better, Embry and Quil loved Bella and tried to get me to give her a chance, but I really didn't want to. I knew that I was being rude, and that it was totally unlike me, but she stole my best friend. In my book, that put her in the 'bitches' section.

With my enhanced hearing, I heard her talking to Jake.

"Are you sure I should be here? I mean, I am the vampire girl…"

"You'll be fine." The grin in Jake's voice was obvious, even just listening to the conversation.

Everyone in the pack except for me, Leah, and Sam ran out the door to greet her.

"Bella!" They all grinned.

"Thank god you're here. Now Jake can finally shut up about you," Paul snickered. "Oh, I hope Bella calls," he mocked.

Jared joined him. "Why hasn't she called yet?"

Embry was next to tease Jake. "Maybe I should call Bella."

Quil finally brought up the end of the line. "Maybe I should call Bella and hang up."

Jake smiled. "Okay, guys. You can shut up now."

The guys just laughed. Emily and Sam made their way out to greet her together.

"Bella," Emily smiled. "I was wondering when we would be seeing you around here again," she said and then hugged the leech-lover.

Bella returned the hug and said, "Yeah, me too."

Leah chose then to go outside without warning me. I stood from my chair and headed to the doorway to watch the scene unfold. Leah stopped by the two and raked Bella with a glare.

"Bella, this is Leah Clearwater, Harry's daughter," Jake introduced. Unlike me, Leah had chosen to get the tattoo. Something about showing power…. I don't know. I didn't get it.

"I'm so sorry about your dad," Bella said to Leah.

Leah didn't care. Yes, she missed her father, but she'd gotten over it. Quicker than anyone expected, as a matter of fact.

Her gaze was hard as she looked at Bella. "If you're here to torture Jacob some more, feel free to leave." With that, she walked away.

Bella just looked at Jacob, taken aback. Leah brought out the sarcasm in everybody. Especially Jake. "Fun, isn't she?" he asked.

I saw that Leah was going to leave, and I didn't want to stay around here. "Hey, Lee! Wait up!" I called as I ran out of the house, down the porch steps, and past the pack.

"Azalea?" Jake asked, confused. He was going to try to stop me, but I pulled my arm away before he could get a grip.

"Not now, Jake," I growled without letting him see my eyes. I followed Leah, and she stopped on the edge of a five foot drop, leading downhill. She looked at me, smirked, and waited for Bella and Jake to look at her.

Once they did, she phased, went down the hill a bit, and then looked back at me expectantly.

"Hey! No fair! You've got four legs and I only have two! There's no way I'll win a race with you!" Unless I phased, but I really didn't want to do that with everybody watching. She seemed to laugh and then she turned away from me and started to walk away, waiting for me to get down there before she started to run. I jumped off the drop, landing gracefully in a perfect crouch and then stood up and took off.

We were racing. Her on all fours, and me on just my two human legs. It wasn't exactly the same feeling as when I was running in wolf form, but it was still freeing.

Jake POV

I watched as Azalea jumped off the drop and then follow after Leah for about ten seconds. Much longer than it took for me to lose sight of them. We all stood outside Sam and Emily's house, Bella at my side, for a while, just socializing and catching up. Nobody seemed to hold it against her that she was a vampire girl, which I was extremely grateful for.

I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation, just taking in the sight of Bella here with me. She was so wonderful and I loved being with her. I loved her.

"So, Bella," Paul started. "When's your graduation?"

"A month," she answered and I tried to push all thoughts of that dreadful day to come away. I didn't want to think about her impending doom of becoming a leech like her 'family'.

All of a sudden, Leah, in wolf form, came running up to us, heading straight for Sam. She had a worried look in her eyes, trying to tell Sam something. He must've understood, because he immediately took off and phased. That was when it hit me.

Azalea wasn't with her.

Something must've happened.

What if she was hurt?

I followed closely after Sam, phasing as soon as I started running. I heard a female voice, but her thoughts weren't really saying anything coherent. It was just a series of grunts and other various aggravated noises. I assumed it was Leah since I knew that she was bitter toward us all and I couldn't hear her thinking anything else. Plus, she was the only female wolf in the pack.

Or so I thought.

As soon as we reached a small clearing, I saw a wolf being attacked by a vampire. The wolf was smaller than the rest of us, but still too big to be an actual wolf. Obviously female, she had beautiful white and brown fur that moved easily in the wind. She attacked the bloodsucker with such grace and ease that I was slightly envious.

When we first arrived, she seemed oblivious to our presence. However, after a few seconds, she sensed us and froze slightly in her movements. It was just enough time for the leech to lunge at her. The two started rolling around on the ground, snapping, scratching, pawing, and biting at each other the whole time.

_Leah! What have you done?_ She screamed to Leah in all of our thoughts.

_Azalea?_ I asked incredulously. This couldn't be right. Azalea couldn't be a wolf. She was so small and… delicate. She reminded me of a flower. Hence why the name 'Azalea' was perfect for her.

_I'm not delicate, Jake. And I'm _definitely_ not a fucking flower!_ She trilled in my mind. Oops. I guess I didn't block that thought.

_I was trying to help you, Z!_ Leah screamed.

_I had it under control!_ Z retorted.

_Azalea!_ Sam thought. _Control yourself!_

_Sam, shouldn't we be helping her?_ Embry asked anxiously. _She's my sister! I can't just sit here and watch as my sister's being attacked by a no-good, dirty, rotten leech!_

_Yes! Since you're all here, would someone _please_ get this thing the fuck off me!_ Azalea yelled as the vampire pinned her down.

I sprang into action before anybody else could. I knocked the bloodsucker off of her and started attacking him. He wasn't holding back, either. Azalea quickly leaped up from the ground and came over to the battle and joined in.

The bloodsucker was dismembered and burning in no time. As soon as he caught fire, Azalea bolted before I could even say anything. And I'm guessing that right as she was out of sight, she phased back, because I couldn't hear her thoughts any longer.

_Go after her, Jake_, Sam calmly spoke in my mind. It wasn't an order, but it still felt like something I _had_ to do.

So I did what I thought she would've killed me for, but hoped she wouldn't.

I followed her.

**Let me know what you guys think! ^_^ Wow. This chapter seems so much longer than the others. Well… review, please! ^_^ **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, my amazing readers. =) Big thanks to everyone who reviewed. They made me so happy, and I'm ecstatic that you're all enjoying this story so much. ^_^ Enjoy.**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

7. The Human Way

Jake POV

I found her standing on the beach, facing the water, away from me. I knew she could hear me, but I still tried to walk as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the peaceful, yet tense, silence that filled the air around us.

"What?" she asked quietly as I approached her.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" I asked with the same volume as her. When I was finally standing less than a foot away from her, I stopped.

"It wasn't just you. Sam was the only one who knew; I didn't want anybody else to know," she whispered, still not looking at me.

"Why?" I was so confused.

"Because I'm the youngest. And the smallest. I was the first girl to phase and I knew that if anybody knew about it, then everybody would go crazy trying to protect me and forget about the task at hand. And… I guess I thought that if I didn't let anybody else know, I could deny it to myself and make it stop, but that obviously didn't work…."

Her explanation made sense. "Okay, I guess I can understand that."

"And plus I didn't really want a bunch of teenage guys rummaging through my thoughts. I would much rather keep my mind to myself, thank you," she added.

I chuckled. That sounded like my Z.

Whoa.

_My_ Z? Well… she has been my best friend for over sixteen years… yeah. She's mine.

I was about to speak again, but she still wouldn't look at me. That pushed its way to the front of my mind. Before I could think better of it, I asked, "Z, why won't you look at me? You haven't actually seen me for three months."

She sighed. There was an emotion hidden beneath it, but I couldn't decipher the meaning. "Oh, trust me, Jake. I've seen you."

"When?" I challenged.

"A little over two months ago, right before you phased."

"So you haven't actually seen me _since_ my change, then?"

"No."

"Is there a reason for that? I mean, you can't still be mad at me, can you?" I asked as I tried to step around to face her, seeing as she wasn't going to turn around any time soon. When I stopped in front of her, though, she still wouldn't look at me. She stared unseeingly through my chest, as if she could see the ocean. As if I were invisible.

She closed her eyes for a moment before resuming the same unseeing gaze and replied. "I want to be."

"But you're not." It was a question, but it came out as a statement.

She shook her head slightly. "No."

"Then why have you been avoiding me?"

She chuckled humorlessly once. "I'm not mad, Jake. I'm hurt."

"What?"

"You chose Bella over your best friends since birth." She shrugged. "It hurts."

I pulled her into a tight hug, knowing she could handle it (because of her wolf strength) and she hesitantly wrapped her arms around me. After a moment, her arms tightened, and she buried her head in my chest.

"I'm so sorry," I breathed. "I never meant to hurt you. It's just… she needed me, y'know?"

She stiffened and then whispered, "So did I."

I pulled back slightly when I felt a few tears hit my chest. "Z?" Her head stayed down. "Hey, look at me," I quietly coaxed and she shook her head.

I was getting sick of her stubbornness, so I cupped her cheek and gently brought her face up so that she was facing me. As soon as I brought her head up, she looked away, but didn't try to move her head, knowing that it would be useless.

"Azalea Call. Look at me," I said firmly. She still didn't. "You know… it's rude to avoid eye contact when you're talking to someone…" I teased.

She sighed heavily and squinted her eyes shut. When she finally opened them, her beautiful green eyes were boring into mine and the world stopped. Everything around us just froze. It was as if we were the only two people occupying the entire planet and gravity released me. I now had firm, indestructible, iron cables locking me to this girl. My best friend. My Azalea.

"Did I just…" I trailed off, not really speaking to anyone in particular.

Z just slowly nodded at me and averted her eyes.

"Wait, so… when you said that you saw me two months ago… you imprinted on me?" I asked, confusion taking reign as the dominant emotion flowing through me.

"Yeah," she whispered, looking back out toward the water.

"Why didn't you ever tell me? Or at least let me see you? It would've saved both of us a whole lot of hurt."

When small, quiet tears began to slowly leak out of her eyes, it made me wonder if I'd said something wrong. But when she replied, it had nothing to do with anything I'd said. In fact, it was what I _least_ expected to hear.

"I didn't want to take away your free will of who to love. That's the one thing I really hate about imprinting. You don't get a choice. But you chose Bella over me, Em, and Quil, and you really seemed to love her. I didn't want to take that from you," she explained.

"But I thought you hated her, and that's why you would never come to see me or hang out whenever she was here."

Azalea POV

"I don't hate her. I mean, I don't like her-she stole my best friend for crying out loud-but I don't hate her. I hate what she's done to you," I told him.

"What do you mean?" Poor thing. He was so confused. Clueless.

"Well for one, the motorcycles? You always used to tell me that nobody could pay you enough to ride one of those things because if you just hit a small patch of gravel or sand wrong, you could die. And then along came Bella, and _bam_. You're fixing up two motorcycles and riding them on the deserted streets of the rez."

"So… you hate that she got me to ride a motorcycle?"

God, no! …That part was actually pretty damn sexy. Seeing him, first working on the bike, and then actually riding it…. Is it hot in here, or is it just me?

"No. God, you're not getting it. She's changed you! What I hate is how you sulked around after she went back to her bloodsucker. You wouldn't even talk to the rest of the pack. I hate that she has you at her beck and call; you'll do anything for her. I hate that… God! I hate that you're so in love with her!" My voice had raised at some point during my rant, but I couldn't recall when.

"I hate that-" he swiftly cut me off by pressing his hot lips to mine.

Oh. My. Lord. This is what I've been waiting for, for ten years. It was magic. I eagerly kissed him back. At least until the kiss started to deepen. It's not that I didn't want it to, but, as right as it physically and emotionally felt, there was just something that didn't sit well with me about it.

Slowly, when he felt my hesitation, he pulled back and rested his forehead against mine. His eyes opened to stare straight into my eyes and he said, "Azalea. I love _you_."

Normally, those words coming from his delicious lips would make my heart soar. But they just made my heart sore.

I shook my head slightly and looked away. "This is what I absolutely hate about imprints," I whispered.

"Huh?" he asked.

"You still don't understand, do you? The _only_ reason you're saying that to me is because of this _stupid_ imprint! If it weren't for this freak werewolf gene, you would still see me as your best friend, and you would still be in love with Bella, and I would still be pissed and hurt," I said, my eyes flashing.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. He looked as if he were going to deny everything I said and then thought better of it, so he asked me a different question, instead. "If all that's true, then how do I know that you wouldn't just see me as your best friend?" he challenged.

"Jake," I whispered and then gained a little more conviction as I spoke. "I've been in love with you for the past ten years. When I imprinted on you, I didn't feel the slightest bit different, except I knew. I knew what I always suspected was true. I just had that gut-feeling that I imprinted, and then when I asked Sam about it, he confirmed that I was right. So you can't say that I wouldn't feel this way about you."

We were both silent for a long moment, and we eventually ended up sitting on the sand, wordlessly. About thirty minutes had passed, and neither one of us had said anything. At least, until he finally broke the deafening silence.

"So what do we do now?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," I murmured.

"I want to be with you, Z," he said, turning to look straight at me.

"I know," I acknowledged. "I want to be with you, too, but I don't know if I can."

"Why? We're destined to be together," he said as if that solved every problem in the world. Which, maybe in his world, it did. But in the real world, things were never that easy. Especially when his imprint happened to be me: the most stubborn living creature alive.

"Jake, it's just knowing that you would've chosen her if it hadn't been for all this… supernatural crap. And she would've chosen you, too, if it were a normal world. If she didn't have her bloodsucker, and everyone on the rez was just pure human, you and Bella would've ended up together, leaving me forgotten in the dust," I said and hot tears began to slide down my face again. Damn it all! Why couldn't I stop crying? Hadn't I done enough of that already?

"Z… you wouldn't have been forgotten, you know that," he reassured. "I could never forget you."

"You would've. You and Bella would've ended up together, gotten married, had a family, grown old together…." I stopped. "I would've been erased from your mind in a matter of months." The tears were coming stronger now, but so was my voice.

"Azalea. We've been best friends for over sixteen years. How could you ever think that I would forget you in a few months?" He looked confused, angry, but most of all… hurt.

"Because I would've made you forget about me. It would've been too heartbreaking to watch some other girl live the life that I've so desperately wanted since I was six. I would've avoided you like the plague, probably even move out of the country for college and stay there. You never would've heard from me again. You would've been happy with Bella and wouldn't even give me a second thought."

"Okay, now you're just being overdramatic," he rolled his eyes.

It may have come off that way, but I was most certainly _not_ being overdramatic.

"Don't you _dare_ tell me that I'm being overdramatic," I growled. "You have no idea how I feel, so don't pretend that you have even the _slightest_ idea of it."

"I know exactly how you feel. I imprinted on you, too, remember?" he asked, giving me a 'duh' expression.

I shook my head. "No. You don't. You know how the imprint feels, that's true. Now imagine that times _ten_. _That's_ how I feel. _That's_ how I've felt all along and the reason the imprint didn't implicate me as much as it did you. For you, it made you see me as more than a best friend or sister. For me, it only showed me that I had been right all along. But it had no impact whatsoever on my heart."

"Z…" he began, but couldn't seem to finish.

"Yeah. So go ahead. Go back to Bella. I mean, you did, after all, fall in love with her the _human_ way," I muttered and walked away.

Jake POV

The human way? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Wait. If all this started ten years ago… then Azalea fell in love with _me_ the human way. And I was just too dumb to realize it. Embry had been trying to convince me for the past nine years that I was in love with her, but I never listened to him.

I broke myself out of my reverie and looked up. Azalea was nowhere in sight.

Shit.

I fucked this up.

Big time.

**Okay! That's it for this chapter! I know it's not as long as the last couple, and it's probably not as good… but anyway! I always love reviews and reading what you guys think of this story! ^_^ Reviews make me happy. So please, let me know what y'all think! Kay? Kay! ^_^ **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, everybody. Sorry, I know it's been a while since I last updated. I've just been going through a lot lately. I've been busy with work and that's exhausted me, and then my grandmother recently passed away and my entire family's having issues with that. So, anyway, there's a VERY important author's note at the end of this chapter, and I need you ALL to review and tell me what you think and your opinion about my updating habits. Thanks a bunch! ^_^ Enjoy!**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

8. Second Chance

Jake POV

I couldn't believe it. Embry had been right all along. I had been in love with Azalea since the beginning, I was just too blind to see it. She made me happy and whenever I wasn't with her or near her, part of me felt empty.

Well one thing was for sure. I wasn't going to let her get away from me twice. So I did what I didn't have the nerve to do last time. I went after her.

I lost myself in thoughts of Azalea and myself as I walked to her house and before I knew what had happened, I was there, standing at the front door, knocking erratically.

Nobody opened the door. _Screw it_, I thought and tried the doorknob, but it was locked.

"Damn it!" I yelled, letting my frustrations out, and began knocking with more fervor than before. Finally after twenty agonizing minutes of endless knocking, the door creaked open a tiny bit, and Azalea looked as if she was about to slam it in my face. Before she could do that, I put my hand on the door and slowly pushed it open, staring into my mate's eyes the whole time.

She looked so sad and heartbroken and like she'd just spent the last hour crying her eyes out. It killed me to know that I did that to her.

"What do you want?" she whispered.

"A second chance," I answered. She looked ready to protest so I cut her off before she could. "I know that I messed up-multiple times-but I _really_ miss you, Z. And I really need to talk to you. Please. I'm begging you to just let me… talk."

Azalea seemed reluctant, but she finally agreed, and we sat on the couch. Me on one side and her pressed up against the other armrest. I felt the need to hold her and comfort her because she was hurting, but I knew she wouldn't let me, so I squashed that urge and kept my hands to myself and began to speak.

"Z…. Over the past few months-with you avoiding me and staying out of my life-I felt like something was missing, but I couldn't figure it out. I mean, I knew that I missed you, Embry, and Quil, but I thought that was it. I didn't realize the magnitude of how much I missed just _you_. I didn't understand it until Embry and Quil started talking to me again and I still felt like there was part of me missing. And then when Bella went back to that _leech_…. Anyway… you take up such a huge part of my heart that I couldn't honestly expect the emptiness to just go away. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't.

"And then after you just left me standing there on the beach, I felt it again. So on my way over here, I thought about it. A lot. Believe me, I had this whole internal monologue thing going on and it wouldn't leave me alone. But I realized that… Embry was right. I knew that I always loved you, but I thought that it was just a familial love. It's not. It never has been.

"When we were kids, I saw you as my best friend's cute sister and one of my best friends. And I had the pleasure of getting to watch you grow up. With every day that passed, I became more familiar with you, and my feelings for you grew. When we were in our preteen years, you were a pretty girl that I thought about all the time. I had thoughts that I know I shouldn't have. I always tried to squash those by telling myself that I grew up with you and that you were like a sister. It rarely ever worked, though. And then it seemed like I just woke up one morning after our sixteenth birthdays and noticed that you were no longer a little girl that I thought was cute, or a twelve year old that I thought was pretty. You were a gorgeous, beautiful young woman. Just the thought of any other guy ever touching you or dating you made my blood boil. I tried to pass that off as being protective, and I fooled myself for a while.

"But when I saw you with Sam that day a little over two months ago, I didn't even realize that it was you." She looked curiously at me, but still warily. "I mean, I knew that you were beautiful, but what really made my mind spin was that you were… well, for lack of better word, _sexy_," I smiled a little bit and looked at her.

"Is there a point that you're trying to make here?" she asked.

"Azalea, the point is… it's that I love you. It's not just because of the imprint like you think. It might have taken me this long to realize it, but it's always been there."

She looked away toward the television and didn't say anything for a long time. It was beginning to worry me.

"Z?" I tried gently. She still said nothing. Damn. Silence speaks louder than words. "Okay," I murmured. "I'll leave you alone. I just couldn't do that without you hearing the truth." I stood up and began walking to the door. Right as I reached it, I felt soft, feminine-but still strong-hands pull me to a stop and turn me around.

Before I could say anything, a pair of soft, sweet lips came crashing onto mine. I groaned as the sheer taste of her awoke a more… animalistic side of me, and I pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. She licked my lips, asking for entrance, which I _gladly_ granted, and her tongue probed my mouth. We wrestled for dominance as she jumped up to my height and wrapped her legs around my waist so I could move us back to the couch easier.

We reached the couch in a few seconds, but it felt like forever, and I began to lay her back on the cushions, our lips never breaking. Before we could get to the point where we were laying down, me on top of her, she broke the kiss, shook her head and smirked at me.

Azalea POV

I smirked and pushed him off me, successfully making him land with a thud on the floor. He looked up at me in confusion and I grinned a second before lunging at him, instigating a wrestling match like old times. Except this time, we were much stronger. I obviously caught him by surprise because he didn't put up a fight for the first few seconds. But when I had him pinned, his eyes turned mischievous and his lips formed a sexy smirk.

Before I knew it, we were rolling around on the floor, play-fighting and trying to pin each other down. We kept at it for what felt like eternity, but was probably only about twenty minutes, and he finally pinned me down, holding my arms above my head and straddling me.

"I win," he grinned.

I pouted at him. "But what if I want to be on top?" I whined.

He looked shocked for a moment, causing him to loosen his grip, giving me my escape. His expression quickly changed, but his grip didn't. "You want to be-"

I cut him off by swiftly rolling us over so that I took over his position. He looked up at me in surprise as I pinned his arms over his head and straddled him. I leaned down to him as if I were about to kiss him. "Hah. I win," I said and grinned proudly as I sat back up.

He glared at me, making my smile grow. "That wasn't very nice."

I shrugged. "Who ever said I was nice?"

He grinned at me and replied, "Well… you've got a point there…"

I scoffed and smacked his chest playfully dragging out his glorious laughter, which in turn caused me to grin. "Okay, you can shut up now," I said. When he didn't, I cut him off with my lips and his laughter quickly ceased.

I was planning on it just being a quick kiss to shut him up, but it quickly grew into more. As soon as my lips touched his, he broke his arms free and brought them to rest on my waist for a moment before wrapping them around me and pulling me closer to him. I moaned when his tongue met mine and I could feel his... growing excitement against my center causing a surge of heat to shoot through my body and pool at the juncture of my thighs.

Jake POV

I groaned. Not only could I feel the heat of her arousal, but I could smell it, too. My senses were heightened when it came to her, and dulled when it came to everything else. She broke away to breathe, and I moved my mouth to her neck, not able to get enough of her.

"If this is what I get when you win, then I'll lose every time," I hummed and she giggled breathlessly. _Giggled_. Azalea Call does not giggle. And the fact that _I _was able to get that from her sent another wave of heat to my groin, making my hardness more than a little painful.

I fully intended to make this continue in her bedroom, but before I could do anything, she jumped off me and was in the kitchen.

"You hungry?" she asked innocently.

"Hey! What was-" I followed her into the kitchen, ready to spontaneously combust, and I was cut off by the door opening.

"Hey, Em!" she called, and I was suddenly glad that she had jumped off me when she did. I took a seat at the table as she started getting ingredients for something out.

"Hey, Z," he called back. "Whatcha making?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen. He didn't see me.

"Chocolate chip cookies," she replied with a smile.

"Yum," he grinned and kissed his sister on the cheek before turning to the table where he finally saw me.

His eyes widened and then he addressed Azalea without taking his eyes off me. "Z? So I'm guessing you and Jake made up?"

"Yup."

She played it off nonchalantly, but I'm sure my expression gave it away.

His eyes turned murderous. "Oh my god! You imprinted on my sister!" he roared and started for me. However, before he could really move, Azalea was between the two of us, blocking his way.

"Embry!" she shouted and gave him a glare I'm glad I couldn't see. The man visibly shrunk back.

I made a mental note to myself. _Never get her angry with you. Well… again._

"Okay, don't mess with females and their mates. Got it," Embry muttered to himself.

Azalea relaxed and went back to making her cookie dough. Embry then turned to me with a calmer expression and spoke rationally.

"Seriously, dude?"

"Why are you so angry? You were the one who was trying to convince me that I was in love with her, anyway. Which I was, so thanks," I said.

He looked at me as if I'd grown another head. "You broke her heart. Forgive me for not being more understanding of your wolfish qualities after seeing my sister broken for three months."

I flinched. "It's not gonna happen again," I muttered.

"Yeah, it better not," he growled.

"Boys," Azalea sighed and walked over to us. She looked at Embry. "Look. I get it, and thank you for looking out for me, but I'm a big girl. You don't have to be the one to rescue me all the time," she said and hugged him.

He exhaled and hugged her back. "I guess I just still see you as that little girl that would always have me come to save her when she was in trouble. Or when you would be wrestling with Jake," he said looking directly at me.

She pulled back and smiled a bit at him. "Yeah, well… I can hold my own pretty well against him, now."

"You could hold your own against him before," he said and we all laughed, knowing it was true. She may not have been the strongest, but she had ways of making me lose.

I chose then to cut in. "Embry, you don't have to worry about me hurting her. It won't ever happen again," I promised.

He studied me for a moment and then nodded at the sincerity he must have seen in my eyes. "Good. I know she's in good hands."

So the brother found out, and I still had all limbs intact. Time to tell the rest of the pack. That could be a little more dangerous….

"Z, listen. Sam needs me again, so I probably won't be back until late. Save me some of those cookies," Embry said.

"Will do," she replied and continued adding stuff to the dough.

Embry kissed her cheek and walked out the door.

"So we're alone again," I said playfully and waggled my eyebrows.

She just laughed and said, "Jake, seriously. I want to get these cookies made."

"Alright, alright, I'm not stopping you," I replied. "I'm just going to be right here while you bake," I said and came up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and started kissing her neck.

"Jake," she giggled. There it was again. I mentally grinned at the fact that only _I_ had ever been able to make her giggle. "That's not helping."

"It's helping me," I smirked and continued my assault on her neck.

She finally accepted that I wasn't going to stop, so she just worked on the cookies and let me do as I pleased. She put a pan of cookies in the oven and just stood there with her head resting on my shoulder and me still kissing her.

Z must have gotten fed up with it because she turned her head and captured my lips with hers. This kiss was different. It wasn't urgent or lustful in any way. It was slow, sensual, still passionate, but it was loving. We broke apart and she kept her eyes closed for a moment before opening them to smile at me. I returned it and was leaning in to kiss her again when the oven's timer went off and she pulled out of my arms to get the hot pan.

"Jake, go watch TV or something. I'll be in there in a few minutes," she said and I complied.

As soon as I sat down, I felt a vibrating sensation come from my pocket. I grabbed my phone and answered, completely content.

"Hello?" I smiled.

"Hey, Jake. Can I come over? Everyone's gone and I'm a bit lonely."

My eyes bugged and I froze. How could I possibly have forgotten?

Bella.

**^_^ Yay! So I updated again! Okay. The very IMPORTANT thing I want you ALL to review and tell me is this: Would you guys prefer that I update more often, but with shorter chapters? Or that I update probably more like once a week **_**possibly**_** two weeks with a longer chapter? Please tell me, this is very important! I don't want to disappoint you guys as my readers because I love you all so much, and your reviews mean the world to me, but I'm also getting busier, so it's one or the other.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, so in the vote, you guys chose to have less updates, but longer chapters. So that's what I'm going to do. =) So I'll try to update every Friday. I'm actually leaving for vacation today. ^.^ I know I won't be able to update next Friday, because I'll be getting back from my vacation then. But yeah, unless there's something going on that causes me to not be able to update, I will update every Friday, **_**possibly**_** every other Friday. If I don't, feel free to message me and scold me. Haha. Okay. Enjoy!**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

9. Explanations

Jake POV

"Jake? …Hello…?" Bella called over the phone. "Are you there?" she asked.

I shook myself and remembered Azalea being only a few feet away, so I went outside and forced myself to speak. "Yeah, Bells, I'm here."

"Ok, good. For a second there, I thought you'd hung up on me," she chuckled.

"No. I wouldn't do that to you."

"I know," she sounded as if she were smiling. "So what do you say? Can I come over?" The grin she sported was audible in her voice, and I couldn't shoot her down when she seemed so excited to see me.

Oh, boy. Azalea was not going to be too happy with me over this…. "Sure, Bells, come on over. I need to talk to you anyway."

"Great!" she exclaimed. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes!"

I laughed. "Bella, it takes twenty minutes to get here. And that piece of crap truck you drive won't go over fifty five."

"Hey. Don't knock the truck. You fixed it and you're calling it a piece of crap? Hmm… I may be starting to doubt your mad skills."

"Fine. I won't knock the truck. But you didn't address my other point. It takes twenty minutes to get here, and your… truck won't go over fifty five."

"…I haven't seen you in a while," she admitted.

I smiled at that. "I miss you, too, Bells. Ok. I'll see you in fifteen minutes."

"Yes you will," she grinned again and then hung up.

I turned around and walked back into the house and was bombarded with the sweet aroma of baking chocolate chip cookies. I grinned and walked into the kitchen to see my imprint singing and dancing as she moved cookies off the pan onto a plate to cool. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her to me. She leaned into me, placed her arms on mine, and sighed contentedly.

We spent the next ten minutes like that, without having to say a word to each other. We still didn't have to, but Azalea broke the silence.

"Why can't we stay like this all the time?" she murmured.

"We can," I told her, completely forgetting about everything except for her in that moment. I wanted to give her everything she'd ever wanted, and if she wanted us to stay like this all the time, then we would.

She chuckled lightly against me. "No, we can't. We've got too much responsibility around the rez and with the pack. And with school. And in about thirty seconds, if I don't get those cookies out of the oven, I'm gonna burn more than tasty, delicious, chocolaty treat. I'll burn the house down."

I opened my eyes and looked at the timer on the oven, and sure enough, there were only twenty seven seconds left before the timer would go off and she would need to leave the sanctuary of my arms to retrieve the cookies. Then I remembered Bella. How could I tell her about this without her getting upset?

…

I couldn't. Damn.

Okay! So the answer… I just don't tell her.

"Hey, Z, I have to head home for a little bit. Billy needs me for something. He called earlier and wants me over there." I felt horrible about lying to her, but I didn't really think I had much of a choice in the matter. If I told her, she would either go batshit crazy and unleash her anger on me, or she'd get really upset. Both would prevent me from seeing Bella because, option one-I want to get back in her good graces, or option two-I stay here to comfort her and make her feel better, because I can't stand to see her in any kind of pain.

"Alright," she smiled. "I'll bring over some cookies when they're all finished."

I smiled and snuck a look at the bowl to see how much cookie dough she had left. Luckily, the bowl was full. "Ok, sounds good." I gave her a quick kiss and then left to go back to my house.

When I got there, Bella was just pulling into the driveway. She threw the truck into park and jumped out of the cab, and before I knew it, she was hugging me in a death grip.

"Jake!" she beamed. "I've missed you so much!"

I smiled and hugged her back. "I've missed you, too, Bells."

She pulled back and grinned up at me. And for once in my life, I felt nothing. Nothing but love for a friend. My heart belonged to Azalea now. Now and forever.

"Bella, I have to talk to you about something," I began.

"Oh, me first," she interjected. "Alice is throwing a graduation party, it's not really something I want, but it'd be more bearable if you were there…" she looked so hopeful; I couldn't say no to that.

"Alright," I agreed. "But I really have to talk to you."

"Okay," she grinned. "Let's just go down to the beach first. I haven't been here in forever and I miss the beach."

I sighed and resigned. Okay, we would go to the beach and then I would tell her. "Alright," I said, and we began the trek down to the beach.

We were sitting on our tree trunk, watching the waves crash into the rocks of the cliff side, neither one of us saying a thing. We just sat there for a few moments. I was trying to think of the perfect way to tell her, but nothing was coming up. Finally, I decided to break the silence.

"Bells, do you remember the legend about imprinting?" I asked.

"Uh… the love at first sight thing? Yeah, why?" she inquired.

"Well, I, uh, I sorta, kinda imprinted." I held my breath to gauge her reaction.

Her eyes went wide and she stilled for a moment before smiling faintly and gazing into my eyes. "You know, ever since I met Edward, I thought I would be with him forever. Then when he left, you were the one that was there, and you pieced me back together. If you're trying to tell me that you want to take our friendship to the next level, then I won't stop you. I'll end things with Edward if that's what you're saying."

"What? No, that's not what I-" she swiftly cut me off with her lips. My eyes wide, I was frozen for a second too long. I regained my composure and began to push her away, but she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer, shoving her tongue into my mouth.

God, just the other day, I would've jumped for joy and backwards through hoops for this. But now, I didn't want it.

I knew that I could've pushed her away if I'd really felt the need, but I didn't want to hurt her, so I just let her finish. I tried to interject some protests, but she cut me off before I could really get anything out. Needless to say, I didn't respond to her. I just didn't want to hurt her physically, so I didn't throw her off me as I probably should have.

Azalea POV

Wow. I hung up the phone and just stared at nothing. I really got accepted into the wildlife program? I'd only been dreaming about this for… my entire life, and as soon as I apply, I get accepted? Awesome. The only problem with it was that I would have to leave La Push. For a year. I would be traveling all over the world, helping specialists catch/rescue wild animals.

Now I just had to run it by Jake. I knew he wouldn't want me to leave, but I also knew that he wouldn't try to hold me back. He knew how long I'd been wanting this. And he'd always been so supportive of me.

I had the best boyfriend ever, and he was all mine. I grinned at the thought. The cookies had just cooled enough that I could put them on a plate to take over to Jake's, so that's what I did. When I got there, I was expecting Jake to answer the door, but I saw Bella's truck in the driveway, and Billy answered the door. I wasn't too worried about Bella being there, what with Jake finally imprinting on me and all, but I still wasn't her biggest fan.

"Hey, Billy," I grinned at the man who was, for all intents and purposes, my father.

"Hello, Azalea. It's been a while," he smiled.

"It sure has. It's been too long if you ask me," I said. "Is Jake around?"

"He and Bella went down to the beach a little while ago, and I haven't seen either of them since, so I'm guessing that they're still down there," he replied.

"Okay, thanks," I said, about to walk away when I decided that Billy should have some cookies before his son gets to them all. "Here," I grinned. "Have some cookies." I held the plate out to him.

"Well, I can't resist your baking. Never been able to, never will," he complied and took about nine or ten cookies.

"Kay, well I'm gonna go to the beach. See ya later, Billy!" I called as I walked away.

"Bye, Azalea!"

I walked down to the beach, not really thinking about much. There was really only one thing on my mind, and that was Jake. He was just such a great person, and I was sure that he was telling Bella about us right now. At least, I _was_ sure of that until I actually saw them at the beach when I got a little closer.

She had her arms locked around his neck, her hand in his hair, and they were playing tonsil hockey! He had one hand on her waist, and the other on the ground, holding them up.

My heart stopped, and my eyes began to tear up against my will. I was so done with this. I was going to go home and never shed another tear over this asshole ever again. The plate of cookies fell out of my hands and landed on the ground with a clattering thud, finally causing the two to break apart.

Bella looked at me as if I had just interrupted the greatest moment of her life, and Jake looked like a deer caught in headlights as he stared up at me. I glared at him through my blurry vision, hoping he could see the anger that I harbored.

"Do you mind?" Bella asked sharply, climbing onto Jake's lap so that she was straddling him.

I shifted my glare from Jake to Bella and my I felt everything inside me shut down. "Not at all," I said and turned on my heel and walked away.

"Good," I heard Bella mutter right before going back to try to kiss Jake, but he stood up and began to come after me.

"Azalea, wait!" He tried to grab onto my wrist, but I yanked it out of his grasp before he could get a good grip and sped up.

"Azalea! Please! It's not what it looked like! Just please, let me explain!" he begged.

I turned and gave him my best death glare, causing him to falter in his steps and stop. "There is _nothing_ you have to say that could ever possibly interest me," I spat and began walking again. It didn't take him long to catch up.

Well… I no longer felt the need to get his approval about this program.

"Azalea. I swear! I would never be unfaithful to you! I love you!" he pleaded. "I didn't kiss her back."

"You know what? I'm done!" I screamed and threw my hands into the air.

He stopped in his tracks. "Done? What do you mean, done with what?"

"This! Everything!" I gestured around wildly. "I'm done with your games and your lies! I'm done with the reservation! Even with the fucking state! But most importantly, I'm done with you," I said with all the venom I felt biting its way through my body. I began to walk away again, this time at a faster pace.

He ran to catch up, and again, stopped me before looking at me through eyes filled with love, desperation, hurt, and confusion. "Azalea… you don't mean that," he whispered, eyes flickering back and forth, trying to read mine.

"Oh yes, I do," I whispered, never breaking eye contact.

"But… but what about your family? Your friends? …What about me?" he asked, grasping at straws.

I snapped again. "What about you? You seemed pretty damn happy on that beach a few minutes ago! What? Did she offer to leave the leech for you? Well congratulations for you! You can finally have the girl that you've wanted for ten years, because I won't be here to interfere anymore. You won't have to worry about any _interruptions_," I spat.

"Azalea! What are you talking about? Are you really leaving?" he asked. He looked so upset, I almost gave in, but I couldn't. I was tired of being hurt by this guy, and I wouldn't stand for it any longer.

"Yes. I'm really leaving. Right before I came down to find you, the Director of Admissions from the Wildlife Program at the University of Michigan called. I got accepted, and I'm going," I stated. **(I don't know if there really is anything like that there, I was just typing)**

He dropped his arm and looked at the ground in defeat. "That's always been your dream," he whispered. "Congratulations. I'm sure you'll do great."

I looked away, feeling the stinging of tears behind my eyes.

"When do you leave?" he rasped.

"I don't know," I lied and thought back to the conversation I had with the woman, only moments earlier.

"_Congratulations! You've been chosen as a member for the Wildlife Program here at the University of Michigan. We have selected ten students out of the twenty-three hundred applicants, and you were the first on our list, Azalea. You don't have to give me an answer right now, but-and I know it's not much time, but-should you choose to accept your place, there is a seat reserved for you on the 8:45 AM flight this Wednesday morning. If you are not on that jet, we will take that as a rejection of our invitation, and we will accept that with no ill-will toward you."_

_Wednesday morning? But that was only two days from now! Well… technically only a day and a half. She's right. That really isn't much time, but I strongly believed that I would not pass up this opportunity._

"_Thank you! Thank you so much!" I exclaimed excitedly. "How long is the program?" I inquired._

"_You would be traveling abroad for a little over a year. Probably about fifty-six weeks. The first stop is in Melbourne, Australia," she answered._

_Wow. That was a _long_ time to be away from my family and friends. And Jacob. I would definitely have to think about this._

"_Alright. Well thank you," I said. "I'll think it over, and have my mind made up by the time that plane leaves on Wednesday."_

"_Great," the woman said happily. "We hope to see you soon."_

I would be leaving Wednesday morning. I didn't know if I would say goodbye to Jacob or not. All I knew was that I needed to get packing.

"Oh… okay," he mumbled. "But what about the imprint? It can't be easy…"

I shrugged easily on the outside, but inside I was ripping apart. "It'll fade." I didn't know if it would or not. I could only hope.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" he chanced a glance in my eyes and must not have liked what he found there.

I shrugged again.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then." And with that, he sulked off back to his house.

My heart ached to see him in that condition, and it was worse knowing it was my fault.

I fought back the tears as I went home and began gathering my things that I would need for my journey. I would deal with my mom and brother when they got home, though I was sure there wouldn't be much to deal with. They'd always been supportive of me and following my dreams.

**Okay! This is a re-do of Chapter 9 because someone pointed out, and I agree, that she forgave him too easily. And when I read the chapter over again, this scenario played out in my head, and I decided that it should be a part of it. Let me know what you guys think! ^.^**


	10. Author's NoteIMPORTANT, PLEASE READ

**So I know you guys don't want an author's note, but believe me-this one is worthwhile. I replaced Chapter 9. I rewrote Azalea's point of view in it, and I believe that it is a lot better than the original one. For one, I agree with some of my readers-Z forgave him WAY too easily, so this fixes that. And two, when I reread the chapter, this new scenario played through my head and I decided to put it in there, so please read. =) I'm going to leave this author's note, but I will update the next chapter when I can. **

**Thank you so much, **

**Camaro**


	11. Chapter 10

**The Flower Called Azalea**

10.

Jake POV

I didn't talk to her at all on Tuesday. I figured she just needed some space, and though it hurt, I understood why she blew up at me. I knew what it looked like. Though I decided to give her some space, I woke up Wednesday around ten feeling horrible. I had to see her again. I had to apologize.

I jumped out of bed, threw on some cut-offs and ran to her house. Just as I got there, I saw Embry's truck pull in, and he and his mom got out.

Em saw me and smiled. "Hey, man! What's up?"

"Is Azalea here? I really need to talk to her," I cut right to the point of my visit.

His face became confused and then shocked. "…She didn't tell you…?"

"Didn't tell me what? That she's leaving, yeah, she told me that. I just need to talk to her before she leaves. So where is she? Her room?" I asked and started toward the house.

"Jake… she's gone. Her flight was at 8:45; she left about an hour ago," he whispered.

"What?" my mind and body went blank. She really left? After the way things were between us? She left without telling me? How? Why? She had said that she didn't know when she was leaving. Was that a lie? "She really left?" I asked softly.

Embry looked apologetic as he nodded slowly.

I sank to my knees. Great. Just great. My soulmate was angry at me, and she left to travel the world without so much as a goodbye.

I really blew this one.

Azalea POV

I didn't think I was going to be able to do it. I really didn't think I would be able to leave without saying goodbye to Jacob, or at least seeing him one more time. But I did. And I'm not proud of myself for it.

I couldn't even talk to him over the phone for the next fifty-six weeks because I had to get a new phone with an international plan, and even then, it was only for emergencies. He didn't have my new number, either, so he couldn't call me, anyway.

When I arrived at the Seattle Airport, I met with one of the people running this program, and she said that when we arrived in Los Angeles, we would be meeting up with a couple more of my colleagues, and then the rest when we actually made it into Australia. There were only ten people accepted into the program, so it's not like we were searching for a huge group.

The students we met up with in LA were three girls, and they seemed very nice. After a long day of flying, we finally made it into Melbourne, and met up with the rest of the group. There was one girl, and five guys.

I caught one of the guys staring at me on more than one occasion, and my first impression of him was '_hot_'. And then he smiled at me, and it was one of those smiles that could make any girl melt.

He was about 6'5", kinda pale, had short, dark blond hair, and bright blue eyes. After a few minutes of the whole glance and look away game, he came over to me and decided to speak.

"Hi," he said. He had an accent, I just couldn't place it with that one word.

"Hi," I replied kindly.

"I'm Luke," he said.

"Azalea."

"That's a beautiful name."

"Yeah," I smiled. "It helps that it's my favorite flower, too," I said before I could stop myself.

"Really? Well then it makes sense," he grinned down at me.

His accent was eating away at me. It was the sexiest thing I'd ever heard, and I couldn't place it. So I asked.

"Where are you from?"

"I was born in Sydney," he responded. Australian! That's why I was practically putty. Well… it made sense. He didn't fly here with us, so I guess he just drove or something.

"That's so cool! I've always wanted to go there," I sighed.

"Well, I'm betting that we'll be able to go there while we're here."

"I sure hope so," I grinned, and then our guide successfully ended our conversation by herding us onto the bus that was going to take us to our camp. The drive was about an hour and a half long, and during that time, Luke and I got to know each other better. I learned that he loves surfing, he's extremely funny and a goof-ball, and he's just got a crazy personality, like me. We talked about where we grew up, our friends and family, and all that good stuff before we finally stopped at our new, temporary home, just outside of Melbourne.

Luke and I had a lot in common, and I found that I really liked him.

And that scared me.

Jake POV

"Jake, come on, man! We have to run patrols!" Quil jumped on my bed, trying to get me to leave my room. It's been a week, and I still couldn't believe that she'd left without even saying goodbye. I didn't know how long she would be gone, or where in the world she was at any time. I tried calling her, but all I got was an automated message saying that the phone account had been deleted, and the number was no longer in effect.

She really was out of my life for who knows how long.

I dragged myself out of my bed. "Fine," I said. Even to me, my voice sounded dead. "Let's go." After that first patrol, I learned that patrolling kept my mind focused, so I went to Sam and started running extra shifts.

Bella had tried to contact me in the last couple weeks, but I didn't want to talk to her. She was the one who ruined things between Z and me. If it weren't for Bella, maybe Z would still be here.

I tried to tell myself that, but I knew it was a lie. _I'm_ the one who messed things up, not Bella. It was just too easy to blame her. Either way, I didn't want to see her.

I saw Embry again after Bella's last call, and we got talking. About Azalea, of course.

"Well, do you know how long she'll be gone?" I asked.

"She said the program lasted fifty-six weeks," he answered quietly.

"Over a year?" My eyes bugged, I'm sure of it.

"Yeah. But, man, this is something she's wanted since she was three. You just need to be supportive of her. It's hard, I know, but it's what's best. My mom and I have been dealing with her leaving, too, and it's been difficult."

"But she actually said goodbye to you," I pointed out.

He sighed. "Yes, that's true. Jake, I'm sorry, bro. I know that this is extremely difficult for you, but there's nothing any of us can do."

"Do you think she'll stop phasing?" I asked. I didn't want her to stop phasing and begin aging without me knowing. If she decided to do that, then I would stop with her. If she wanted, anyway.

"I don't know, man. I don't know how much time she'll have to herself out there." His words weren't exactly comforting, but he was right about one thing. There was nothing any of us could do.

And that fact completely sucked.

**Okay, I know, this is really short, and I'm sorry. But I've been busy. I've been working more, and then school's starting in two weeks, and then I really won't have much time, so during school, I'll update when I can. But I lost track of time this week, and didn't realize that it was Friday until I got home today about three hours ago. But I promised an update today, so this is it. I know it's not the best, and I'm sorry, but please review anyway and let me know what you think. I always love reading your feedback. ^.^ ****Until next time, my lovies!**


	12. Chapter 11

**New Chapter! ^_^ Enjoy!**

**The Flower Called Azalea**

11. A Year Away

Azalea POV

I couldn't remember a single time when I'd had as much fun as on this trip. During our stay in Australia, we'd gone to Ayer's Rock, or _Uluru_, as the natives called it. We studied wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, and just about every other wild animal there.

Luke and I got closer with every passing day, and I also became really close with everyone else in the group. We were like a surrogate family to each other. I'd like to say that Luke was like a brother, but I couldn't say that without lying to myself. I liked him. A lot.

After Australia, we flew to Europe and explored Spain, Germany, and Scotland. We were currently stationed in Ireland, eight months into the program. We were staying in each country for two months. It was work mixed with a vacation and adventure. It was amazing.

While we were in Germany, sometime during the fifth month, Luke and I started dating. We got to be best friends in Australia and Spain, and things just kinda progressed naturally from there. Now, we'd been dating for three months, and I was starting to feel things for him that I thought I would only ever feel for Jake.

Jake…

I still felt so bad about leaving like I had. I loved him, I really did, but he'd just hurt me too much. I couldn't stay there. This program was exactly what I needed, and it came at the perfect time. I talked to my mom and Embry once a month and they tended to avoid Jake as a subject of conversation. Though sometimes, they let things slip.

Like the last time I talked to Embry, just last week. I had told him and my mom about Luke the month that we started dating, and apparently Jake found out. Not surprising with the whole 'wolf telepathy' thing, but Embry said something he probably shouldn't have.

_"Hey, Em!" I greeted happily once he answered the phone._

_ "Z!" He cheered. "It's so good to hear your voice! Things here have been hectic. So how are you and Luke?"_

_ I grinned to myself. "We're fantastic. Embry, he's amazing." Luke chose that moment to walk in. He heard me, grinned, and situated us so that I was sitting between his legs on the bed, my back to his chest, and his arms wrapped around my waist. As our conversation continued, Luke started to lightly kiss my neck and play with my hair._

_ "Well, it's good to know one of you is happy," Embry sighed._

_ That caught my attention. "Huh? What do you mean?"_

_ He stuttered."Uh… nothing."_

_ "Embry," I warned._

_ "Fine," he sighed in resignation. "Jake's been… weird… lately."_

_ "Weird how?" My voice sounded cautious and hard to my own ears._

_ Luke sensed my change in demeanor and stopped nuzzling my neck, and just held me, giving me a worried gaze._

_ "Listen… Gah! I really don't think I should tell you this…" Embry fretted._

_ "Embry," I warned again. "I think I have a right to know exactly _how_ Jake's been acting 'weird'."_

_ He sighed again. "You're right. Okay, Z. But you didn't hear this from me, alright?"_

_ "Just tell me, already, Damnit!"_

_ "He's been sleeping around…" he spat out in a rush._

_ My heart stopped. "Wh-what?"_

_ "Z, I'm really sorry. But… you're happy with Luke, right?"_

_ That returned my attention to my wonderful boyfriend who happened to be worrying about me at that moment. "Yeah. Yeah, right." I smiled again. It was actually genuine, to my surprise. Luke just made me happy. "Love you, Em. I gotta go, though. I'll talk to you next month."_

_ "Okay, Z. Talk to you, then," he replied and we hung up, ending our monthly phone call._

_ "Everything alright?" Luke asked._

_ I turned in his arms and smiled at him. "Yeah. Everything's fine." And I kissed him. I poured every ounce of passion and everything I felt for him into that kiss, and he reciprocated without hesitation. In that moment, I realized that we'd only been dating three months, but it felt a lot longer than that. In that moment, I realized that-though it defied the fates' decision-I loved him._

_ My arms tightened around him and his did the same around me; it still felt like we couldn't get close enough. That one kiss started out passionate and loving, and it quickly escalated into more. I loved Luke and I wanted to show him._

_ I lost my virginity that night._

I had mixed emotions whenever I thought about that night. I felt hurt from the phone call, but then I felt extreme love and happiness from the rest of the evening. Luke was nothing but loving, gentle, and sweet.

"Come on," Luke coaxed with a grin as he pulled me away from our camp in the middle of the night.

"Luke!" I whisper-yelled. "What are you doing?" I verbally protested, but I let him pull me along to his will.

"I've got a surprise for you," his smile changed from a full out grin to a sweet, adorable smile, and love was shining in his eyes.

I huffed. "Fine." A grin of my own forced itself onto my face and I let him drag me along.

Finally after about a ten minute walk, we stopped at the most gorgeous lake I'd ever seen, surrounded by purple wildflowers, and the full moon glinting undisturbed off the sparkling black, calm water.

I gasped and brought my hands to cover my mouth. "Oh, my… Luke… it's beautiful. H-how did you find this place?" I asked, unable to bring my voice above a strangled whisper.

He grinned shamelessly at my state of shock. "I might've gone exploring a bit, earlier today," he admitted.

I whipped around and pulled his face down to mine for a sound kiss. I pulled away just enough to whisper, "Thank you," and kissed him again.

_This is what it's supposed to be like_, I thought. We'd had our arguments, as friends, and as a couple, but we never did anything to break the trust between us.

Which is more than I could say for _some_one.

Jake POV

(A year after Azalea left)

"_That_ was amazing," the blonde curled into my side said as she drew circles on my chest.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Jake," she whined. "I wanna do it again." She tried the whole pouty thing-I think to be cute-but it just looked pathetic. I never banged the same girl twice.

"Sorry," I said as I started out of the bed to get dressed. "I have to get to work." My mechanical skills finally paid off and I was able to open my own garage here on the rez.

I think she started to say something, but I was already out of her house, and on my way to the garage. Seth was working on a Focus when I got there, Jared was working the front desk, helping out a customer who had just dropped off their car, and Quil was also working on a car, but he was working on an Audi TT Roadster. Quil, Em, and I were the only ones that were trusted with the high-end cars.

If Azalea were here, she would be part of our team as well, but-no! I swore to myself when she left that I wouldn't think about her. I didn't even know how long she'd been gone, now. She could never come back, for all I cared. I was perfectly happy with my garage and taking someone to sate the urge whenever I felt the need.

Damnit! I was thinking about here again.

Embry came out of the back, wiping his hands on his towel, grinning. At least until he saw me and the grin fell right off his face as if it would never return.

Though he didn't smile, I could tell he was happy about something.

"Hey, man!" I greeted with a grin of my own, and he cautiously returned it. Though fake at first, his smile slowly transformed into a genuine expression. "What's got you all happy?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing…" he lied. Badly, by the way.

"Uh-huh. Sure…" I teased and playfully punched his arm.

He quickly changed the subject. "Who was it last night?"

I shrugged. "Beats me. But she was hot and flexible. That's all the motivation I needed."

Azalea POV

"Beats me. But she was hot and flexible. That's all the motivation I needed," he said.

My eyebrows scrunched and I tried to see if it really was him. Though he was talking to my brother as if they, themselves, were brothers, so I was pretty sure it was him. Damn… I mean, I knew what Embry had said. He'd said that Jake had become a complete man-whore, but I didn't realize the extent of how much of an asshole he'd become.

Was this because of me?

Luke's arm tightened around my waist, bringing me back to the present. I looked up at him and he looked at me with curiosity. _Right_, I thought. _Back to the task at hand_.

"Embry!" I shouted with a huge grin.

His conversation with Jake paused as he looked over his friend's shoulder and saw me for the first time in over a year.

"Azalea!" He grinned and ran over to give me a suffocating hug. As soon as my name left his lips, I saw Jake stiffen.

I screamed in joy and laughter as my brother spun me around. "I missed you so much!" I cried into his shoulder.

"Agh! That is the last time I let my baby sister roam the world by herself for a year," he said, as if he were in charge and he put me down.

I laughed and reminded him, "Ah, but my dear brother, I was not alone. Remember? I was with two instructors and nine other students."

Embry rolled his eyes. "Still. You missed having your birthday here. You're eighteen now. God, you're legal." He looked as if he were about to cry.

I grabbed his face with one hand and shook his head back and forth. "No. You're not allowed to cry." He laughed and swatted my hand away.

In that moment, a trampy redhead decided to walk in, strut straight up to Jake-who had now turned around and was watching me-and kiss him full on the mouth. I scoffed in disgust.

"Lisa," he protested and pulled away.

"Carly," she corrected.

"Whatever. Look. I told you that I don't do things twice," he said and gazed at her with hard eyes.

This was disgusting. I didn't know how much more of this I could watch. So I turned my attention from him to Luke, who was just standing back, trying not to look awkward, but slightly failing.

"Em," I smiled. "This is Luke."

Embry grinned and held his hand out to my boyfriend. "Hey, man. It's nice to meet you."

Luke shook his hand and smiled back. "You, too."

"Okay, I know you two have never had any really serious problems, but I'm her brother, and if you ever hurt her, I will kill you," he threatened.

"Embry," I laughed. "Don't scare him off. It's been ten months, and he has yet to do anything to mess up."

"Well I'm glad to hear it," Embry smiled, relieving the tension between my brother and boyfriend.

Jake's conquest had left in a huff and was watching us intently. He chose that peaceful moment to intervene and ruin everything. "Ah, so you must be our little Z's latest fuck," he smiled broadly.

I didn't like this smile. It wasn't the happy, sweet, fun smile I was so used to from him. It was a cocky, egotistical, asshole smile.

Luke was offended, and so was I. But I cut in before Luke could say anything-or do anything. He had murder in his eyes.

"Excuse me? I'm not the _whore_ here, Jake," I growled.

"Oh no, I know," Jake smiled. "She just left."

I stared at him in awe. I didn't know this Jake. I didn't want to. "You are such an asshole."

"Mmm, get used to it, baby."

I had no idea if my Jake was still in this bastard's body or not, but if he was, I knew how to get him out.

"Oh, I don't have to. I'm only here until Monday." It was Friday. "Luke and I are going to Australia and going to college together."

"What?" My brother and Jake asked at the same time. Embry shouted his question, but Jake's eyes just widened and his question was more of a shocked stutter.

"Yup," I nodded. "I'm leaving. I don't know if I'm coming back." I continued to drive the dagger in deeper. I felt bad for doing this to Embry, considering it was a lie, but I felt no remorse for Jake. Embry looked like someone had just killed his puppy, whereas Jake just looked like a deer in headlights.

Jake seemed to compose himself, but reverted back to his bastard-self. "Good riddance," he snorted.

I think my heart broke more than when I first left at his words. "What happened to you?" I asked quietly.

He gestured to Luke and replied, "Him."

Luke looked taken aback. "Sorry?"

"Whoa, what?" I screeched. "What does Luke have to do with what you are now?"

Jake didn't look like he was going to answer that any time soon and Luke looked ready to beat him up. I would've gladly let him, if I hadn't known that Jake would kill him.

"Luke," I put a hand on his chest, stopping him from advancing toward Jacob. "I'm sorry. I brought you here to meet my family, and instead, you get _him_," I grimaced. "Come on, let's go to my house, and I'll introduce you to my mom. She's so excited to meet you."

"Alright," he agreed. "Let's go."

I nudged Luke out the door of the garage and chanced a quick look back to be greeted with the sight of Jake looking angry, hurt, confused, and defeated.

"I told you she wouldn't like this new Jake," I heard Embry tell him quietly as I walked out the door.

**Well, there you go! Please review! ^_^ The response has been a little on the slow side lately, and I love reading your opinions on my story. So, I'm thinking… 10 reviews on this chapter before I give you guys the next one. I hate to set a minimum, but I really want to know your guys' thoughts. ^.^ Thanks, guys! I love you!**


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